Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! When this time of year rolls around, I always think a bit more critically about the importance of sharing my vibrant culture. As someone who goes to Mexico twice a year to visit family, I always reflect just a little extra about how grateful I am to have the opportunity to experience such a different culture. That’s why this month is so valuable—it gives everyone the chance to explore a piece of something that I find so meaningful.
This is why I wanted to showcase a few Latinx owned small businesses around Ann Arbor, MI. When I began to look places up, I only got hits for restaurants. I thought that perhaps I was typing the wrong thing into the search bar. Alas, I was not.
Although food is such a central part to Mexican culture, and Hispanic culture as a whole, there is so much more to our culture than that. Whether it’s sitting in a hair salon sharing chisme—gossip—with the women around you or buying authentic jewelry from female-owned businesses, these vital parts of Hispanic culture are not advertised as much.
Coming from Texas, I’m surrounded by Hispanic culture and events everywhere. Two minutes from my house you can find four Hispanic grocery stores, and in the other direction there’s a fully Spanish-speaking library. When I came to Ann Arbor, I felt deprived of this. I felt as though no one listened to Bad Bunny, and no one knew about the museums in Mexico City that I grew up going to with my grandparents.Â
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had the opposite effect of what people told me: Everyone said my Hispanic identity would slowly fade, and I would grow apart from it. However, I feel as though I’ve become much closer with that part of my identity, and crave being surrounded by aspects of Hispanic culture even more now.Â
Because of that, I wanted to compile a list of Hispanic-owned small businesses for other people to appreciate the beauty and diversity that the Hispanic community contributes to society.
Although there are not many for me to compile a list on, I will start with a couple of restaurants in the area:Â
The first is Pilar’s Tamales, a Salvadoran restaurant that specializes in tamales and pupusas. The owner, Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers, escaped the Salvadoran Civil War, came to Ann Arbor, and opened her restaurant. It began as a catering service, and is now located at 2261 W Liberty Road.
The second restaurant is Tmaz Taqueria, located at 3182 Packard Street. The founders, husband and wife Cesar and Ana Hervert, started the business in 2011 and wanted to bring authentic Mexico City street tacos to Ann Arbor. Cesar, originally from Veracruz, moved here to make a better living for himself, and after working at various restaurants, he finally settled down with Tmaz Taqueria.Â
These are two great opportunities to immerse yourself in Hispanic culture, and explore a portion of daily life that you may never stumble upon on a normal day.
I urge Ann Arbor and its citizens to highlight Hispanic Heritage Month, and work with small businesses in the area to showcase the various facets of Hispanic traditions and lifestyle choices. Not only just for this month, but throughout the entire year.
This Hispanic Heritage Month, I’ll continue sharing my Mexican culture with all my friends, taking them to as many Latinos @ UMich events as possible, trying the restaurants on the list, and reflecting over the dynamic and diverse cultures that come simply with being Hispanic.