A Place at the Nayarit

How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community

Natalia Molina

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English

University of California Press
03 July 2024

History of the Americas; Migration, immigration & emigration; Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies; Hispanic & Latino studies; Local history

""Extraordinarily relevant and meaningful.""—Elee Wood, New York Times

Los Angeles Times, An Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf Essential Book & Latinx Files 2022 Best Books

New York Times, Best Books about California, New York Times

James Beard Award Finalist in History

L.A. Taco's 2022 Best Books

MacArthur Genius Natalia Molina unveils the hidden history of the Nayarit, a restaurant in Los Angeles that nourished its community of Mexican immigrants with a sense of belonging.

In 1951, Doña Natalia Barraza opened the Nayarit, a Mexican restaurant in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With A Place at the Nayarit, historian Natalia Molina traces the life's work of her grandmother, remembered by all who knew her as Doña Natalia—a generous, reserved, and extraordinarily capable woman. Doña Natalia immigrated alone from Mexico to L.A., adopted two children, and ran a successful business. She also sponsored, housed, and employed dozens of other immigrants, encouraging them to lay claim to a city long characterized by anti-Latinx racism. Together, the employees and customers of the Nayarit maintained ties to their old homes while providing one another safety and support.

The Nayarit was much more than a popular eating spot: it was an urban anchor for a robust community, a gathering space where ethnic Mexican workers and customers connected with their patria chica (their ""small country""). That meant connecting with distinctive tastes, with one another, and with the city they now called home. Through deep research and vivid storytelling, Molina follows restaurant workers from the kitchen and the front of the house across borders and through the decades. These people's stories illuminate the many facets of the immigrant experience: immigrants' complex networks of family and community and the small but essential pleasures of daily life, as well as cross-currents of gender and sexuality and pressures of racism and segregation. The Nayarit was a local landmark, popular with both Hollywood stars and restaurant workers from across the city and beloved for its fresh, traditionally prepared Mexican food. But as Molina argues, it was also, and most importantly, a place where ethnic Mexicans and other Latinx L.A. residents could step into the fullness of their lives, nourishing themselves and one another. A Place at the Nayarit is a stirring exploration of how racialized minorities create a sense of belonging. It will resonate with anyone who has felt like an outsider and had a special place where they felt like an insider.

By: Natalia Molina
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 408g
ISBN: 9780520402324
ISBN 10: 0520402324
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 03 July 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction. Placemaking in a New Homeland 1. Finding a Place in Echo Park 2. Tasting Home 3. The Emotional Life of Immigration 4. Venturing Forth 5. Maintaining Ties Epilogue. Losing Places Notes Bibliography Index

Natalia Molina is Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California and a 2020 MacArthur Fellow. She is the author of the award-winning books How Race Is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts and Fit to Be Citizens? Public Health and Race in Los Angeles, 1879–1939 and coeditor of Relational Formations of Race: Theory, Method, and Practice.

Reviews for A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community

""A history of the Nayarit that’s really a history of Echo Park that’s really a history of Los Angeles."" * Razorcake * ""A fascinating study of a single business’s impact on a community."" * Alta Magazine * ""A Place at the Nayarit is essential for anyone wanting to learn more about the people who tirelessly work to shape the urban landscape."" * Journal of Arizona History * ""An enthralling microhistory… It is a boon for those looking to better understand the connection between food spaces and identity and also a means to remember a non-archival based history that might otherwise be erased by current-day gentrification of Echo Park."" * Pacific Historical Review * ""Although the Nayarit was just one exceptional institution, by telling its story Molina has succeeded in bringing attention to the fate of similarly marginalized people and businesses, in Los Angeles and around the world."" * California History * “Molina masterfully relates the Nayarit to the history of Echo Park and the immigrant and labor history of Mexicans in the United States. . . . A great read, as the book concerns not just the study of Mexican food, place-making, and entrepreneurship captured through one eatery but also this story’s relation to the broader political economy of mid-century Los Angeles.” * Gastronomica *