Mexican Ninth: Shop by Shop

Mexican shops beyond Washington Avenue appeared in the order in which they now stand: door by door. In two thousand one, city planners counted thirty-three vacant buildings out of seventy-six surveyed in the market's southern section. Some Italian merchants no longer wanted to keep sidewalk stalls. Newcomers from Mexico rented the stalls, set aside their earnings, and then opened their own shops in neighboring buildings.

Andres Hernandez arrived in Philadelphia in nineteen ninety-nine. He made a living at a pizzeria and wanted to understand how a restaurant worked from the dining-room side. He knew almost no English, so every day he asked a bilingual coworker to explain two or three new words. Andres's father, Encarnacion Hernandez, was cooking at an Italian restaurant at the same time and learning kitchen work. One was learning to take orders and speak with customers, the other to manage food preparation.

In two thousand seven, the Hernandezes combined these skills in a family restaurant on Ninth Street, just beyond Washington Avenue. Andres took charge of the dining room, Encarnacion became the cook, and two of Andres's sisters joined them later. The restaurant was first called Montezuma, in honor of the Aztec ruler, and then the family renamed it Adelita.

When Andres opened the restaurant, five other Mexican restaurants were operating nearby. Two and a half years later, there were four more. Owners of bakeries, grocery stores, and butcher shops directly explained their choice of Ninth Street by the presence of compatriots: customers, familiar products, and entrepreneurs they could ask how to get a permit or find a supplier. Each new door reduced the risk for the next owner.

Since the spring of two thousand twenty-four, the entrance to this quarter has been marked by a banner with a welcome in Spanish, English, and Italian. Mexican entrepreneurs hung it above Ninth Street by Los Amigos Bakery, on that very stretch between Washington Avenue and Federal Street that they had once filled one shop at a time.