A Place at the Nayarit

ABOUT THE BOOK: In a world that sought to reduce Mexican immigrants to invisible labor, the Nayarit was a place wherepeople could become visible once again, where they could speak out, claim space, and belong.

In 1951, Doña Natalia Barraza opened the Nayarit, a Mexican restaurant in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With A Placeat the Nayarit, historian Natalia Molina traces the life’s work of her grandmother, remembered by all who knewher as Doña Natalia––a generous, reserved, and extraordinarily capable woman. Doña Natalia immigrated alonefrom Mexico to L.A., adopted two children, and ran a successful business. She also sponsored, housed, andemployed dozens of other immigrants, encouraging them to lay claim to a city long characterized by anti-Latinxracism. Together, the employees and customers of the Nayarit maintained ties to their old homes whileproviding one another safety and support.

The Nayarit was much more than a popular eating spot: it was anurban anchor…