From tacos to shipping solutions and pink lattes, meet the entrepreneurs bringing culture, flavor, and community pride to the heart of La Mesa.
Lindsay Elias
Explore some Hispanic-owned businesses in La Mesa, including great places to eat and local shipping services.
Mario’s De La Mesa Restaurant
Located towards the end of La Mesa Village is Mario’s De La Mesa Restaurant. Juan Vazquez owns the Mexican eatery which is a family-run business. Vazquez started as a dishwasher and worked for the original owners for 15 years before taking over the company three years ago.
The restaurant has local support but aims to increase foot traffic. They offer various specials including free buñuelo’s on Mondays, taco Tuesday specials, kids eat free on Wednesdays, half-off beers on Thursdays, and happy hour from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The Vazquez family has also incorporated aguas frescas and café de olla into their menu. The most popular dishes are fajitas, carne asada and fish tacos.
The Box Shop
If you need shipping and mailing services, The Box Shop in La Mesa, owned by Maria Guzman, has you covered. Guzman, a 35-year San Diego resident from the Dominican Republic, previously worked as a director at a technical school in Mission Valley for almost 18 years.
The Box Shop became her new venture after a slowdown in the school she was directing. Guzman did not know much about the business but said, “ As soon as I came in, I was like ok this is it, I belong here, I can feel it, I can do this.” She began to learn the business by doing her research, attending seminars and speaking to those with similar businesses like hers. She has since implemented services like fingerprinting, notary, and virtual mailboxes.
Guzman emphasizes the importance of her customers and expresses her appreciation for them. “It’s a business I really enjoy, I cannot see myself doing something else, like from here I’ll probably just retire but I would not want to do something else,” Guzman said.
Pink Rose Cafe
The Pink Rose Cafe in La Mesa lives up to its name with pink decor, rose walls and a delicious menu. Nadia Zamora, the owner of the cafe said, “Once we opened, it took off like a brush fire.” However, the journey to open was not an easy one for them. Zamora mentions they were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by the La Mesa riot in May 2020 in which they were broken into and vandalized. She said a 6-month build-out turned out to be a 14-month build-out. At one point she was ready to pull out of her passion project but a donation from the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce and Union Bank, as well as support from the community, gave her the push she needed.
Since opening in 2021, people from various places have traveled to visit the cafe, including people from, Europe, Canada, Los Angeles and Mexico. The Cafe was also part of a segment for “90 Day Fiancé” and “Married at First Sight”.
As a Latina-owned business, Zamora said, “I take pride in being here and being a staple in a place where our culture and our people too have something that represents them.”
The cafe’s menu also includes items that reflect Zamora’s culture, such as their best seller the Mexican mocha and matcha horchata. Zamora said, “ The heart of small businesses are the community and so supporting those is really important.”
