La Rosita people
Do you have any stories to share about the people who work at La Rosita? Eddie? Enrique? the waitresses? the cooks? Leave a comment…
This entry was posted on December 16, 2006 at 2:07 pm and is filed under Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 15, 2006 at 3:28 pm
I remember a waitress who was very nice and had a huge collection of pins. I think she wore them on a vest. I don’t know if she still works there, and I don’t remember her name.
December 16, 2006 at 11:45 am
When I came to this neighborhood in the 1960s, it was still part
of New York City. I lived on 109th Street, where everybody was
Dominican and Puerto Rican. On the corner of Broadway, where
Chase Bank is now, was a “super-bodega”. Across Broadway a Cuban
diner, Ideal (which later became fancy, with tablecloths and
candles, and then shut down). On each of the four corners of
110th Street and Broadway, one or more vegetable markets where you
could buy recao, plátano, yuca, and every type of vivere.
Amsterdam Avenue below 110th Street, aside from a few “antique”
stores, was 100% Caribbean. This was a neighborhood of real
people, gushing fire hydrants, children playing in street; of
exhilerating music, enticing aromas; a neighborhood with its own
frío-frío man. Fast-forward 40 years and, aside from a small
bodega on 108th Street just off Broadway, La Rosita is the last
vestige of those days, the last place to get a delicious
home-cooked meal that doesn’t cost a fortune, the last place that
feels like home and where everybody seems like family, and really,
the last good reason to live around here.
¿Cuántas vidas se trastornarán todo por el bien de un solo
arrendador avaricioso? A mi me parece que centenas de gente
trabajan en La Rosita. Cada vez que me voy p’allá, veo cada vez
más. Creo que La Rosita ha de estar uno de los mayores
empleadores de hispanos en el área. Ay ¿qué van a hacer todos los
empleados? Madres, padres, abuelas… que trabajan tan duro para
mantener a sus familias… Adónde irán? Rite-Aid? Duane Reade?
¿Para hacer los $6.00 la hora, sin propinas, en un ambiente hostil?
Y ¿qué hay de todos los dominicanos, puertoriqueños, y cubanos
que, contra viento y marea — las rentas que se dispararse, la
yupificación sin parar ni merced — que todavía ingeniárselos para
vivir por aquí? La Rosita les ofrece un refugio, un amparo, un
lugar familiar y cómodo para relajarse y sentirse como en casa.
Uno lo ve especialmente por las mañanas. ¿Dónde más conseguir un
desayuno dominicano? — huevos con mangú, salami, queso, cebollos
y pimientos, pan, y café con leche. Ay ay ay, después de eso, no
tienes que comer otra vez hasta la semana próxima!
Adios La Rosita, y gracias.
December 31, 2006 at 4:21 pm
I’ve been eating at La Rosita since autumn 1995 when I lived on 116th between B’way and Riverside. I didn’t expect much when I first visited but my first cafe con leche sealed the deal- holy cow. I ate there every week, at least once weekly for years; during and after the big snowstorm in January 1996, La Rosita was one of the only restaurants open and my daily destination. Though I’ve sampled a few other dishes there, my steadfast favorite is black beans over yellow rice with two fried eggs over medium and fried maduros- with a cafe con leche or two, of course. I’ve also enjoyed their Cubano sandwich- unreal and so yummy. I fervently hope Eddie finds another space in the neighborhood!
January 7, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Way back in the early 1980s there was a gentleman who waited tables there; I never got his name but I saw him every time I came in. He always wore a tie, always with a Ronald Reagan button on it. More often than not, he would be smoking a cigarette as he brought the food to you, a good inch or two of ash dangling from the end and threatening to ruin your food. He may not be my favorite be he certainly was the most memorable person I encountered at La Rosita.
June 4, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Hi Jim. Photos i received. Thanks