Bustling West Side St. Paul marketplace has humble roots — from a station wagon
A view of El Burrito Mercado.
Ambar Espinoza | MPR News 2006
Cinco de Mayo is coming up this Friday — which means big business for El Burrito Mercado.
The traditional Mexican marketplace and restaurant is located on St. Paul’s West Side in the Mexican-American commercial district known as the District del Sol.
MPR News producer Britt Aamodt spoke to co-owner Milissa Silva about the history behind this neighborhood food destination.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Hey, Cinco de Mayo is coming up this Friday, which means big business for El Burrito Mercado. The traditional Mexican marketplace and restaurant is located on St. Paul's West Side in the Mexican-American commercial district known as the District del Sol. MPR producer Britt Aamodt spoke with co-owner Milissa Silva about the history behind this neighborhood food destination.
BRITT AAMODT: It all began with 800 square feet and a station wagon. El Burrito Mercado in West Side St. Paul. It was started by Tomas and Maria Silva in 1979, and it's now grown to 13,000 square feet. That's going from one room to huge rehabbed furniture store.
And that's going from a little market to a marketplace with all its departments-- a grocery, meat market, deli, bakery, restaurant, cantina, banquet area, an outdoor patio with a food stand and occasional musical performance. But that's now.
MILISSA SILVA: When my dad first started supplying the store, he had a full time job besides trying to run the store with my mom. He started out with a station wagon, and then it became a van, and then the van became a truck. And he would go to Chicago to stock up on Mexican groceries to supply the store with.
BRITT AAMODT: Milissa Silva is Tomas and Maria's oldest of three children. She and her sister Susana and niece Analita now run the Mercado, and their brother-- also Tomas-- runs the food truck and corn roasters that serve up elote, grilled Mexican street corn. We're meeting in El Burrito's overflow seating area, also known as Milissa's other office.
MILISSA SILVA: --go in there, and we should be OK. You might hear a random customer.
BRITT AAMODT: The original El Burrito market where the Silvas sold a few dry goods and some produce still exists. It's something else now and just up the street, and those 800 square feet hardly tell the story of the journey the Silva family made to create one of the West Side's true destination addresses.
MILISSA SILVA: My mom was the second to youngest of 13 siblings. And back in the day, they used to come and do migrant work on the beet fields-- and there's something else they did, I always forget-- here in Minnesota. And so they would go back and forth to Mexico and Minnesota. And so on to visit back as a young adult, my mom met my dad. And then he followed her up here, and they got married. And it happened very quickly. They didn't have a long dating or courting time, and then they got married pretty quickly, and then had me.
BRITT AAMODT: That was in 1971. Eight years later, the young couple had three kids and with the help of friends and community members were able to secure a $10,000 loan to open their tiny market. They figured out what they were doing as they went along. And it didn't matter that Tomas had a third grade and Maria a high school education or that at the beginning, each one was also working a second job. They just kept at it.
MILISSA SILVA: And then the three of us kids hung out in the very back of that business, and my mom used to make our food there after school. We hung out and played there after school. Boxes were our toys, and we used build stuff together. And then a few years later, we moved into now what's Novedades Lupita.
And she sells quinceanera dresses and a lot of Mexican clothing and then also like gowns and prom type clothing. That used to be us. That's when we added a little kitchen, and my mom started making tamales and my dad started making carnitas. They added a baker, and my mom would start cooking for customers.
BRITT AAMODT: The Silvas started the Mercado to provide a living for themselves and because they miss the foods and flavors of home, which also filled a need for the West Side's strong Mexican-American community. In 1995, El Burrito Mercado moved to its current location, gradually expanding into the 13,000 square foot building.
MILISSA SILVA: It's a small market. It's a small restaurant. But it's very, very busy.
BRITT AAMODT: In 2015, the parents retired and the next generation of Silvas-- including daughter Milissa-- carried on the work of El Burrito Mercado.
MILISSA SILVA: Being here is more than just a business. It's what El Burrito means to so many people, and it's the opportunity it gives us to give back to our community.
CATHY WURZER: That was MPR producer Britt Aamodt talking to Milissa Silva about El Burrito Mercado, the traditional Mexican marketplace started by her parents in 1979. Melissa says Cinco de Mayo is one of the market's busiest days of the year. They'll have a DJ playing live music and, of course, food. The best place to find their plants is on the El Burrito Mercado Facebook page. By the way, this story is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendments Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
BRITT AAMODT: It all began with 800 square feet and a station wagon. El Burrito Mercado in West Side St. Paul. It was started by Tomas and Maria Silva in 1979, and it's now grown to 13,000 square feet. That's going from one room to huge rehabbed furniture store.
And that's going from a little market to a marketplace with all its departments-- a grocery, meat market, deli, bakery, restaurant, cantina, banquet area, an outdoor patio with a food stand and occasional musical performance. But that's now.
MILISSA SILVA: When my dad first started supplying the store, he had a full time job besides trying to run the store with my mom. He started out with a station wagon, and then it became a van, and then the van became a truck. And he would go to Chicago to stock up on Mexican groceries to supply the store with.
BRITT AAMODT: Milissa Silva is Tomas and Maria's oldest of three children. She and her sister Susana and niece Analita now run the Mercado, and their brother-- also Tomas-- runs the food truck and corn roasters that serve up elote, grilled Mexican street corn. We're meeting in El Burrito's overflow seating area, also known as Milissa's other office.
MILISSA SILVA: --go in there, and we should be OK. You might hear a random customer.
BRITT AAMODT: The original El Burrito market where the Silvas sold a few dry goods and some produce still exists. It's something else now and just up the street, and those 800 square feet hardly tell the story of the journey the Silva family made to create one of the West Side's true destination addresses.
MILISSA SILVA: My mom was the second to youngest of 13 siblings. And back in the day, they used to come and do migrant work on the beet fields-- and there's something else they did, I always forget-- here in Minnesota. And so they would go back and forth to Mexico and Minnesota. And so on to visit back as a young adult, my mom met my dad. And then he followed her up here, and they got married. And it happened very quickly. They didn't have a long dating or courting time, and then they got married pretty quickly, and then had me.
BRITT AAMODT: That was in 1971. Eight years later, the young couple had three kids and with the help of friends and community members were able to secure a $10,000 loan to open their tiny market. They figured out what they were doing as they went along. And it didn't matter that Tomas had a third grade and Maria a high school education or that at the beginning, each one was also working a second job. They just kept at it.
MILISSA SILVA: And then the three of us kids hung out in the very back of that business, and my mom used to make our food there after school. We hung out and played there after school. Boxes were our toys, and we used build stuff together. And then a few years later, we moved into now what's Novedades Lupita.
And she sells quinceanera dresses and a lot of Mexican clothing and then also like gowns and prom type clothing. That used to be us. That's when we added a little kitchen, and my mom started making tamales and my dad started making carnitas. They added a baker, and my mom would start cooking for customers.
BRITT AAMODT: The Silvas started the Mercado to provide a living for themselves and because they miss the foods and flavors of home, which also filled a need for the West Side's strong Mexican-American community. In 1995, El Burrito Mercado moved to its current location, gradually expanding into the 13,000 square foot building.
MILISSA SILVA: It's a small market. It's a small restaurant. But it's very, very busy.
BRITT AAMODT: In 2015, the parents retired and the next generation of Silvas-- including daughter Milissa-- carried on the work of El Burrito Mercado.
MILISSA SILVA: Being here is more than just a business. It's what El Burrito means to so many people, and it's the opportunity it gives us to give back to our community.
CATHY WURZER: That was MPR producer Britt Aamodt talking to Milissa Silva about El Burrito Mercado, the traditional Mexican marketplace started by her parents in 1979. Melissa says Cinco de Mayo is one of the market's busiest days of the year. They'll have a DJ playing live music and, of course, food. The best place to find their plants is on the El Burrito Mercado Facebook page. By the way, this story is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendments Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
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