Stopping By: Friends with all the world
“With more languages, you can have more friends,” she said. “I like to speak with everyone. I want to talk with all the world.”
After her family moved from Los Angeles to McMinnville following the pandemic, Perez and her mother opened Mac Plaza, a combination deli, gift shop, plant store and event venue at 500 S.E. Adams St., McMinnville.
The site also serves as a food truck hub, with several Mexican food sellers who work together, rather than competitively, she said.
They support each other like a big family, she said.
“It’s hard when you’re new to a place or an industry,” she said. “It’s better to work as a team.”
The team includes her nephew, Derek Nino, who is 10; and two nieces, Fatima Zapien and Victoria Zapien. They have helped her make videos about Mac Market, she said.
Another of the children associated with the food trucks is her young friend Mario, who refers to Perez’s mother as “abuela,” or grandma.
“All the kids here we treat like family,” she said. “We try to feel welcoming to everyone and feel good about our place.”
Perez said she wants Mac Plaza to be a place for both Latinos and other members of the community, both on a day-to-day basis and during celebrations — both traditional holidays from her homeland, such as Cinco de Mayo and Dia de los Muertos, and holidays from other cultures, such as St. Patrick’s Day.
“I like to share our culture and all cultures,” said Perez, who calls herself outgoing and fun-loving. “I want to know all the cultures possible and share with everyone.”
Mac Plaza incorporates a produce stand and food trucks Antojitos La Gordita, Mario’s Taqueria, Tacos y Mariscos El Cebollo, as well as the main building with Perez’s gift shop and food business.
“A mix of everything,” Perez said.
Her building once housed a construction company office, and before that, a garage. She and her family cleaned up the space, made repairs and added a kitchen before opening on Oct. 4, 2023.
“A year already!” Perez marvelled recently. “I feel glad. Time is running fast when you have fun.”
The building features a roll-up door that can be open on nice days, for indoor/outdoor searching. Several rooms offer gifts and clothing, from novelty socks to T-shirts to lingerie.
Some items and pieces of clothing have an alien theme. A large alien creature, nicknamed Paco, greets visitors from a spot above the counter.
An enclosed outdoor area is filled with flower arrangements and plants, such as cacti and succulents.
The deli menu includes beer, cocktails, wine, smoothies, agua fresca, coffee, salads, sandwiches, wraps and Mexican snacks, such as nachos made with corn chips topped with cheese, Valentina salsa and ketchup; corn off the cob with Valentina and cheese; or fatty pork ribs with vinegar.
The latter dish, a favorite in Mexico City, may not be familiar to U.S. palates. “It’s like me trying Thai food,” Perez said, who encourages people to explore new foods. “I may think I won’t like lemongrass. But I may really like it.”
Her mother and business partner, Veronica Tufino, does the cooking. “She is the chef here,” she said, but they bake together on weekends – tres leches cake, lemon cake, cookies and other Mexican sweets.
With chairs cleared away, Mac Plaza has room for dancing and dance lessons.
Julian Rios offers salsa classes from 8 to 9 p.m. Fridays, followed by social dancing. Lessons for beginners as well as those with more salsa experience cost $15, which includes the dancing afterward; dancing only is $5.
“We love to dance,” said Perez, who enjoys Cumbia as well as Salsa.
Her mother taught her to dance as a girl in Mexico City, she said. “Latinos have the dancing inside,” she said, adding that it’s healthy exercise, as well.
She would like to see more young people in McMinnville learn to dance, she said. It would give them something positive to do.
“Dancing brings you more time to enjoy life,” she said.
Another room in the building is decorated with Japanese touches and equipped with a karaoke machine. The space can be rented by the hour for $10 per person with a two-person minimum.
Karaoke parties are among events Perez wants to encourage at Mac Plaza. She also hosts a variety of holiday themed events, such as a St. Patrick’s Day party with Irish dancing, along with traditional Mexican parties, such as music and dancing on Mexican Independence Day or observance of Las Posadas at Christmastime.
On Friday, Nov. 1, Mac Plaza will host a Dia de los Muertos celebration with folklorico dancers from 6 to 7 p.m. and costume contests for kids and for adults from 7 to 8 p.m. Candy for the kids, music and dancing also are planned.
Perez has already decorated for the Nov. 1 event. She made an ofrenda, a display with the centerpiece picture of a skeleton woman that’s traditionally created from hibiscus flowers and seeds.
“My ofrenda is big, but it’s little compared to the huge ones in Mexico City,” she said.
Dia de los Muertos, celebrated right after U.S. residents mark Halloween, is a time to honor people who’ve died. Families display photos of their loved ones and set out their favorite dishes — chicken with mole sauce for Perez’s late grandmother, for instance.
“You put out their favorite food, a glass of water for them to drink, flowers …” she said, to help guide them to their final resting place.
Candles are lighted in relatives’ honor. When the breeze moves the flames, people say it is the spirit of their loved ones coming to thank them for remembering, Perez said.
The Mexican celebration of Dia de los Muertos also includes visiting loved ones on the following day. Families serve mole, tamales, a traditional sweet bread called Pan de Muerto and other foods.
They drink champurrado, like Mexican hot chocolate thickened with masa harina. In some parts of the country, Perez said, people make atole, a different form of hot chocolate.
Perez said the Mac Plaza event is open to the entire community.
“We try to share the way we do things,” she said. “I want people to come to Dia de los Muertos to see what Mexican traditions are like.”
In turn, Perez has embraced U.S. traditions, including Halloween. She’s no fan of haunted houses, though, she said.
She’s planning a girls-only karaoke night on Nov. 16 featuring music from the 1980s and ‘90s.
She is looking forward to McMinnville’s Christmas parade, which will be held on the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 29.
She and her family also love a particular McMinnville tradition, the UFO Festival.
In fact, UFOs made a difference when she and her mother and her sister and brother-in-law, Nancy and Daniel Maszczak, were planning to move to Oregon.
“My brother-in-law started looking for a place,” she said. “He’s a big fan of aliens, so he found McMinnville.”
That explains, as well, Paco and the other alien references in Mac Plaza. Perez and her family, including her 10-year-old nephew, also have carried through with the alien theme while participating in local events, including the UFO Festival parade.
Both alien fans and other residents in McMinnville have been very welcoming to her family, she said. And McMinnville offered the right place to start a business, as well as a supportive business community.
“The Sage, Conservatory Bar, Two Dogs Taphouse, others are very supportive,” she said. “They are also families, working day to day.”
Mac Plaza is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Perez took a business course through the Mexican Consulate in Portland before opening, she said. Now she’s always looking for new ideas to improve and expand Mac Plaza.
The karaoke machine, for instance, was added because she thought it would attract customers and because of her own fascination with Japanese culture.
While living in Los Angeles, she had met numerous Japanese immigrants and descendants who spoke Spanish, as well as English.
“If they can speak Spanish, I can learn Japanese,” she decided in an effort to make her new friends comfortable.
One of her friends, who now lives in Japan, suggested offering karaoke. And Perez said it has worked: it has brought her more Japanese friends and those from other Asian countries, such as South Korea, as well as people from the general community.
“I feel glad. I love to share,” she said.
She hopes speaking Italian will bring her even more friends.
She chose that language, in part, because one of her sisters speaks French. She wanted to bring a different language into the family.
Learning to speak a new language is enjoyable, she said. Learning to write it or read fluently is more challenging – especially with Japanese.
But she is determined. The effort is worth it, if she can make new friends.
Contact Starla Pointer at 503-687-1263 or spointer@newsregister.com.
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