Mexican Restaurants and the American Dream : Juana Santana with El Primo Taqueria y Carniceria in McKinney, Texas

In East McKinney I met Juana and Antonio Santana who are both originally from Acapulco, Guerrero. The siblings run a grocery story and taqueria called El Primo, which is located on McDonald St. The shop's is filled with Mexican items and symbols such as Rancheritos tortilla chips, veladoras, piñatas, posters featuring well-known Mexican soccer players like Rafa Marquez and more.

I was very excited to find El Primo Taqueria y Carniceria because it exemplifies the kind of Mexican business that this photography project is about. It carries interesting Mexican products ranging from religious to popular culture, it offers the visitor the experience of shopping in a family business, and it shows us how different generations of immigrants relate and differ from one another.

On a Sunday afternoon I walked in and met Juana Santana who was running cash register. It was slightly past lunch time and the taqueria was getting busy with families wanting to have late lunch and some leisure time. After chatting with Juana for a little bit about my project she agreed to take few pauses from work and pose for some pictures. The challenge, as it tends to be with these photos is to take as many photos as possible and interrupt the normal operation of the business as little as possible.

Juana has lived in the United States for twenty-five years. I asked about the differences that exist between living in Mexico and living in the States. “Life has been a little bit better than in Mexico” she replied “my family and I have achieved the American Dream but we've had to dedicate time and effort to it.” Juanita told me that El Primo Taqueria and Meat Market began like most family business that start from scratch. “It started as a tiendita (small grocery shop) and eventually my brother began expanding the business by adding a taqueria, a meat market and a beer aisle.

On that day, her brother Antonio dropped in and agreed to have his photo taken as well. We started talking and I asked him about his thoughts on the American Dream and what it means.“Cuando llegamos aqui llegamos con ganas de hacer algo” he said, “when we came here [to the United States] we wanted to do something productive and thank God it has worked.”

I noticed that people from various generation work at El Primo Taqueria and Meat Market. Antonio's mom, sister and niece were all involved in the operation of the business. Carmen Zambrano is Juana's daughter and she was born in Texas. She knows English well and is fluid in Spanish. I asked her if she has visited Mexico and what kinds of cultural differences does she notice between the two countries. “Over there people are more sociable and friendly than here” she replied.

Carmen mentioned that she represents the generation that will achieve the American Dream because her parents have worked and continue to work for her. Carmen is currently attending Texas Woman's University and wishes to become a pediatrician. During her breaks at work she takes out her college textbooks and works on homework.