For years the building on the corner of 14th Street and E. Tyler Street has served as a magnet for the residents low-income neighborhood who would awake every morning to the aroma of fresh pan dulce wafting from the squat green building with the painting of Aguilas de America soccer star Cuahutemoc Blanco and the gold and blue colors of the Mexico City soccer club.
And, like other landmarks in the area like the old Serrata Grocery store and other neighborhood businesses, the El Puerto Bakery is going the way of the mom-and-pop stores of yore.
"They started taking tearing it down a few weeks ago but the weather has slowed them down," said housing project resident who lives just across the street. "For years we've been buying sweet bread and tortillas from El Puerto and barbacoa on Sundays. We're going to have to go somewhere else now."A part of the problem with El Puerto was the ongoing problems associated with running a food establishment in an old building. As the building deteriorated, it exposed itself to the potential for health department citations. In the end, it was the city that ordered that the owners to shut the building when they couldn't maintain the bakery up to municipal sanitation standards.
Still, to residents used to living in homes where they battle roaches, mosquitoes, and other pests on a daily basis, the service provided by the corner bakery will be missed.
"We knew the owners on a personal basis and it got to the point where they just weren't making enough profit to compete with the larger businesses that started selling sweet bread like the chain grocery stores like HEB, Wal-Mart, and others," said a resident of the neighborhood. It's not going to be the same without El Puerto here."
6 comments:
Go into Southmost, Mr. JM, and you'll find many mom pop stores ....
Come to think of it, write more about Southmost where well more than half of the city live, maybe closer to 60-70 percent!
The politicos ignore Southmost, do not register voters there, do not encourage them to vote ....
THE CITY, THE COUNTY, THE UTB, THE BND IS RUN BY CROOKS, THAT GIVE THE COMMON ESTABLISHMENT CITATION AFTER CITATION UNTIL YOU CLOSE THE PLACE. THEN THE CITY, COUNTY, UTB TAKE OVER THE PLCE AND MAKE IT A PARKING LOT OR GIVE IT TO A COMPADRE FOR A LESS THAN TAG PRICE TO AND BECOMES A COMERCIAL GAS STATION. WATCHA!!! THAT IS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!!!
This building is a reflection of Brownsville....old, deteriorating and the owners refuse to invest in improvements. Using tax dollars to repair both is wasteful and useless. Owners of downtown property are refusing to make improvments on their property or are hindered in their efforts by Peter Goodman and his "historic" edicts on how repairs can be made....making very hard or impossible for owners to financially make improvments.
(The politicos ignore Southmost, do not register voters there, do not encourage them to vote ....)
Probably because having already broken a law by living in this country illegally, they'd be breaking another law by declaring themselves legal residents to vote.
who gives a shit about a mexican bakery???? throw $100 together and you can build one. cheap shits!
What the above posters don't understand is that the system don't work if citizens don't pay taxes. Unless you are rich, then you can buy politicians to help you not pay taxes. Oh yeah, and the politicians are going to make it all better for us.
Never vote for an incumbent or someone who promises too much.
Post a Comment