Los Primos is located on Clinton St. Clinton Street is part of the downtown area, but it lies on the North Side, which holds most of the towns poverty and crime. The houses you can see are historic homes, which have not been kept up over the years. Los Primos shares a building with a laundromat. This spring, there was a homicide/suicide that occurred at this location, giving example to the claim that Los Primos is in a less desirable part of town. Across the street lies a Brethren Church. The most notable business in the location is Inter-Cambio Express, another Latino owned business. This business exchanges currencies, and offers an affordable way to send money out of the country. They are trying to bridge the gap that their relocation has created and keep in touch with their roots and traditions.
Los Primos itself is located in a small, modest building. It is clean and well kept, with about 12 tables. In place of art, there are pictures covering the walls of the food served, with their names in both Spanish and English. A poster, worthy of any middle school science fair, tells the story of Los Primos, and offers information about the owner, Martin Lopez Sr. He and his wife run the restaurant, with help from their daughter and son. Behind the counter you can see through a window into the small kitchen.
According to Stats:Indiana, about 14% of Goshen is Latino. As a Mexican Restaurant, one would think that most of its customers would be of Latino descent. However, this is not necessarily the case. There were certainly Latino customers. Most of the customers on the days I visited though, were Caucasian. A group of white men sat at a table talking loudly. White couples sat at tables. White families tried to control boisterous children. This observation that more white people came in than Latino people led me to consider how exactly Los Primos can, and does, act as a contact zone between these cultures.
As with any restaurant, Los Primos’ sole purpose is creating and serving delicious food. It is stated on their facebook page that, being a family run and oriented business, they aim to create a dining experience where you feel like a member of their family.
The most obvious way that Los Primos creates a contact zone is their food. Food and cuisine play an important part in every culture, and every culture is proud of the unique food they create. Pride in one’s culture works as a tool to guarantee that the culture is preserved. Los Primos, by offering an authentic cuisine, offers the opportunity for white Americans to take a journey to Mexico, via their taste buds and full tummies. Familiarizing oneself with food of other cultures makes you more familiar with the culture itself. If you appreciate the food, you must also appreciate the cook that created it. If you appreciate the cook, you must appreciate the recipe he used. And if you appreciate the recipe, you appreciate the culture that developed it.
The less obvious tool that Los Primos creates a contact zone with is interaction, communication, and language. Language often creates a barrier between cultures. Los Primos works to bridge this barrier. All of the employees who work at Los Primos speak Spanish. But they are also bilingual. They leave the comfort zone of their language, stumble over English phonics and grammar, so that they can communicate with their English speaking customers, They take the time to learn your language so that they can create a place where you feel comfortable. They create a means of communication and in doing so, create a contact zone. One can also see this on the menu, as it is written in both Spanish and English, as are the names of the food on the wall. Even the Spanish speaking television has English subtitles. Los Primos reaches across the boundary of language to familiarize you with their culture.
Bibliography
Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area. stats.in.edu. Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana
University's Kelley School of Business. 2011-2012. Web. April 3, 2013.
Los Primos Restaurant and Catering. Facebook. January 19, 2013. Web
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this blog post as well as your presentation in class about it. I think that Los Primos definitely acts a contact zone and attempts to bridge the cultures of Mexicans vs. everyone else by using delicious and relatively inexpensive food as well as making sure their products can communicate with people outside of their culture by utilizing the English language. I'm kind of surprised that the area it's located in is considered the "bad side of town," but then when you explained the murder that happened as well as the demographics, I suppose that proved to be sufficient evidence. Coming from really big cities before I came to Goshen kind of made me blind to it, I supposed. It looks nowhere near as bad as what I'm used to...but that's a side note, I guess.
Good work on this blog post, and I'm really glad that you addressed the struggles of the establishment itself. You're right, they obviously don't speak native English, but they try their best to communicate with their patrons, and I think that is something extremely commendable. And yeah, you should see if they still offer discounts to Goshen College students, because I think that might help you in showing how they are trying to reach out to people that are way outside their own culture. I remember Savino telling me about it, and how Los Primos was the first (and only place, at least at the beginning of the year) that would offer discounts if you showed them your GCID. Maybe Ann would let us go out for a field trip there or something. That would be excellente, I think.
I loved your blog post! This is a fantastic window into Los Primos. I went there with a few of my friends earlier in the semester and loved it! Everything that you're saying matches perfectly. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the language barrier. Some of my friends who were with me knew Spanish, so they ended up ordering for me in Spanish! Such a neat experience! I think I've said this before, but I really enjoy your writing style! You sprinkle sarcasm and vivid imagery into your sentences and it keeps me awake and engaged when I read! Good job!!
ReplyDeleteI think I really need to visit Los Primos! From what I have been hearing from you and from other people who have been there, the food is authentic and really good. I think language barriers are really interesting, because depending on how they are approached they can either really separate groups of people or can be a way to make them more focused on understanding the other. It sounds like Los Primos is doing an excellent job of navigating the border and is an effective contact zone. Apparently The Record also did an article on Los Primos this week, about how the prices are affordable and the food is good! That combination of value and quality is also something that is helpful to bring people in.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting to look at a restaurant as a contact zone, and Los Primos seems like the perfect one to do that with! I definitely agree with you that food can definitely be a window into different cultures and bring people together. It's also very cool that the family that runs the restaurant is very friendly and makes an effort to get to know their customers. The combination of good food and friendly people seems to make Los Primos a successful contact zone. I think it's especially cool that it is a Mexican restaurant in a city where there are so many Latinos. It helps bring people together in this large minority group as well as bringing other people in as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you chose Los Primos for this project. Los Primos is probably my favorite Mexican restaurant in Goshen, and I've noticed that they seem to mix the Mexican and American cultures very well. A restaurant is a great contact zone because it draws in all sorts of people. It's also interesting to think about how food can be a bridge, as it is such an important part of a culture.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post about Los Primos. It is my favorite place to eat at every weekend with my family. I love their food and the hospitality that one gets when eating there. The owners of the restaurant are awesome, especially the old lady. Being mexican, I feel like they treat everyone the same no matter what the skin color is. There are a few restaurants in elkhart that do the same. So with this being said, Los Primos definitely serves as a contact zone. I liked your presentation and your questions! Overall good job!
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