WORDS Natilee McGruder
The landscape of food in Montgomery is noticeably changing: there is Venezuelan, Jamaican, Korean, Mexican, Thai, Chinese and Indian food now available in a town where “meat and three” reigns supreme. The food served in these restaurants acts as a gateway. For those from abroad who now call Montgomery home, the gateway opens to comfort, solace, the evocation of memories. For those from Montgomery, the restaurants are a gateway to cultural diversity, to new experiences and new memories, to people one would otherwise never meet. By exploring the people behind these restaurants, I hope that you might come to know them more personally and be inspired to step outside the culinary box when eating around town. While it’s simple to stay on the trail blazed by ease and familiarity, that path will lead you right past an upstart local gem like La Coronilla - meaning “the crown”.
Friends Apolonio Ramirez and Epifaunio Barrios own La Coronilla. Epifaunio (or Epi) runs La Coronilla on the service road (near Wares Ferry) that runs alongside the Eastern Boulevard, while Apolonio owns and runs El Chido, a Mexican tienda on Burbank Drive just a few miles away from the restaurant. Epi came to Montgomery in 1996 and has spent the past 17 years working hard to realize his dream of owning a restaurant. I walked into to La Coronilla and asked him if he wouldn’t mind telling me his story and that of his restaurant.
Epi’s story began in his home state of Guerrero, Mexico which has a deep influence on his particular brand of Mexican food - which is fresh, traditional and made from scratch in La Coronilla’s open kitchen. He came to the United States for work and ended up in Orosi, California doing backbreaking work as a field hand. He moved to Montgomery in 1996 and began cooking at the newly opened China Buffet which many long-time Montgomery residents will recall. After five years at China Buffet and five years at Lek’s Taste of Thailand, Epi had honed his skills in various culinary traditions but still heard the siren call of freshly made enchiladas con mole and pozole from his native Guerrero.
He has put those skills to work in La Coronilla, a place he decorated by hand with Mexican artwork and live plants. He stresses the freshness and his commitment to delicious traditional food that includes augas frescas (fresh juices), tamales, carnitas, various types of soups, as well as tacos with hand-patted tortillas made fresh daily by his sister. When I asked Epi what were the main challenges of owning his restaurant in Montgomery, he said that people don’t like “cebolla y cilantro”—meaning that people don’t want the fresh onion and cilantro (which, along with lime, complements most any authentic Mexican dish), they want cheesy, saucy, Americanized Mexican food. I told him that I didn’t think that was strictly true, but rather that the local culture of wanting to experience the familiar or making a selection through word of mouth can be limiting to new and “foreign” establishments.
When your friends, family and co-workers are not Korean or Mexican, don’t speak Korean or Spanish, and don’t frequent those restaurants, you are less likely to receive a recommendation and or get a wild hair to seek one out. La Coronilla has been in Montgomery for four years but according to Epi people are not as interested in 100% authentic Mexican food, although he hopes to change that. When I ask if he means that they seem to prefer Mexican food a la Taco Bell he shudders and affirms with a nod. He notes that he welcomes more residents and visitors to experience his version of the Meat and Three: various savory choices of meat or seafood with rice, beans and salad. Some of the Montgomery Crossfit community patronize his establishment and often order dishes off the menu that fit a paleo or primal-style diet, which generally excludes beans and grains. He even remarked that when a large group of them came by one weekend he made them Tom Yum soup by special request. Urbanspoon has highly favorable reviews of La Coronilla from some satisfied souls who have experienced Epi’s homemade food.
Epi has made his home and business in Montgomery and he plans to stay for the long haul. At this point, he says, he just needs a wife. He enjoys the calm way of life in Montgomery but thinks that we need more jobs. According to him, “Si no hay trabajo, no hay dinero y si no hay dinero no hay negocio.” Which means if there are no jobs there is no money, and without money, businesses like La Coronilla cannot survive.
Visit Epi at La Coronilla located at 425 Eastern Boulevard. Open from 9am-9pm, serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Wednesday to Monday (closed Tuesdays). On Thursday, Saturday and Sunday they serve pozole. Epi is happy to explain anything on the menu or create an order to meet you or your child’s needs. La Coronnilla is also on Facebook at LaCoronillaGrillCosinaMexicana.