Mana's, down in the burrio

The tagline for Mana's Mexican food restaurant is "Down in the burrio," which is Spanish for neighborhood, and they aren't joking. To say Mana's is tucked away is an understatement. You practically have to be shown where the place is by someone who already knows, like it's the prohibition era and you're going to a speakeasy.

One thing I noticed about Mana's is it's cheap, but they give you larger portions than you could probably handle. When I looked around and took notes on who was around me I noticed a larger family with a few children running around, causing the ruckus that children can cause. The father figure had a tightly cropped military haircut, though it was graying on the side. He was wearing an air force jump suit that went right along with his disciplined, rigid demeanor.

I wondered how many families this place attracts. It's cheap, it's located in a residential area (one of the few in this town that doesn't cater primarily to upper middle class residents or college students), and it has a welcoming atmosphere.



A small caveat to that last comment. One might not guess about the welcoming atmosphere from the outside. However, anytime someone enters Mana's their apprehensions should disappear. The waitress was friendly, the food was good and it just felt like a nice place to be.

I thought about how the community surrounds Mana's literally, and if that's true for it figuratively. It's not a well-known place. I thought about how people in the neighborhood probably came here because it was a part of the community and the liked everything about it, the Zapata paintings on the wall, the Latin decorations, ect. Maybe I assume too much here, but I could see this place getting that kind of clientele, the ones who support a place because they feel almost like it's their responsibility to.

If I was to do a story on Mana's that would be my focus. Or maybe on the family owned resteraunt, and that advantages that brings (eg. the inexpensive food, the positive atmosphere, ect.) You might hear about mainstream cultural establishments in the news a lot, but it's the quiet, out of the way places that have the real heart that can attract readers and get people interested in their community.