PHOENIX — From historic storefronts to new development, it doesn’t take long on a drive down Central Avenue to see the new mixing with the old.
For Hispanic business owners on Phoenix’s south side, it’s a welcome mix as they celebrate their lasting culture and tight-knit community.
At Poncho's Mexican Food and Cantina, every room is filled with three generations of family photos and memories. The business has called south Phoenix home for more than 50 years.
“This used to be my family's home,” Amy Vasquez said. "My nana and her sisters would cook up the food, and they would serve it serve it out of the takeout window.”
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The restaurant, like many longtime businesses along Central Avenue, has weathered many changes over the decades.
"What was so amazing and rewarding about it is this amazing community and beyond has just really shown their support over all of these years,” Vasquez said.
Up the street, the next generation of south Phoenix entrepreneurs are baking up a different approach to business.
"As young people, we just wanted something a little bit different, and bagels kind of just fell into our lap,” Catherine Vidales said.
Vidales started Bagelero with her husband two years ago. Rather than relying on a brick-and-mortar building, they bake out of a commercial kitchen and rely on farmers markets, pop-up events and social media to bring in loyal customers.
"We do everything traditionally, so boiled in barley malt, baked, but we put our own Mexican twist,” Vidales said. "There's an interest in the community as well as people my age or even younger who are interested in being entrepreneurs and expanding into the neighborhood that they call home.”
While both businesses, new and established, differ in how they serve their community, they’re united in a pride for their heritage and neighborhood they call home.
"The Mexican culture, in particular, is just so much about family and hard work, and like I said, bringing people together. I know that's something that that my nana she loved to do,” Vasquez said.
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