Celebrating La Borinquena Mex-icatessen

  
When I first heard that La Borinquena Mex-icatessen was closing after 71 years of business in Oakland, I felt a kind of sadness. La Borinquena is a Mexican restaurant with a cafeteria style setting. Tucked in the back of the restaurant, they have a little shop selling supplies such as spices and tortillas. In general, it’s usually not good news when a business has to close down in Oakland. I view it as a retirement and became happy and excited for them. Four generations of a family have operated the business for seven decades and have earned this awesome status. I call it success.  Friday, July 31, 2015 was their final day of operation. I went over for lunch the day before with a couple of colleagues to be one of the last patrons to enjoy the food of La Borinquena. There may have been about 25 customers ahead of us. I observed a family leaving with two huge buckets of masa. Others were leaving with bags of goodies. The party ahead of us have been regulars at La Borinquena all their lives. There was definitely a sense of history and celebration as I awaited.
 After about a thirty minute wait and changing my order in my head a few times, I made a last minute decision to order what one of the people ahead of me ordered. I got the carnitas plate which came with rice, beans, and tortillas. I enjoyed it very much. It probably tasted exactly like it tasted 71 years ago. There is something to be said about good tasting, classic food with no frills.

  
A friend of mine who grew up in Oakland and now living in the South Bay was sad about this closure. She requested some tamales from La Borinquena, so I ended up with half a dozen tamales to go.  
I froze my tamale. In the weeks to come when I crave a “Tina Tamale”, I can pull mine out and celebrate again. Congratulations La Borinquena Mex-icatessen on your retirement!