In Spanish it means “The Chinese,” but during my early childhood, it was an expression that my family used to refer to the grocery store near our home. I grew up in a predominantly Hispanic and Black subdivision of Houston. We called it “La Colonia Villa.” Perhaps it was named “villa” in gest because, frankly, it was a slum. Or perhaps it was a linguistic tip of the hat to Francisco (Pancho) Villa. I do not know.
When I was very young, this grocery was known as the Tom Lum Market. The store was located on Liberty Road, and our house was on Ranch Street which was the back of the store. For us, a trip to the grocery meant walking perhaps 100 yards up the street and along the side of the store to reach its entrance.
I remember visits there to buy staples, and in later years, as a high-schooler, trying delicacies like pickled pigs’ feet drawn from a 5-gallon jar atop the butcher’s display case. There were also large dill pickles in similar jars. These treats popped my culinary cherry, as it were. It’s funny because neither of these things were Asian fare. They were intended to cater to the preferences of a predominantly Hispanic and Black community. Some years later, the grocery was renamed the Liberty Food Market.
This small, family-owned grocery business, like the Chinese family-owned dry cleaners nearby, was a typical example of Asian entrepreneurial prowess. Both businesses thrived. When I left Houston to attend UT in Austin, in 1965, the Liberty Food Market was still going strong. Alas, I never returned to visit it.
This evening, pondering those past experiences, I searched Google for the Liberty Food Market. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it still exists at the same location. There is also a Lum restaurant in the market itself! So, I guess that the descendants of that family still run the business.
I wish “Los Chinos” well; they have contributed at least one, if not two, generations of their family to the betterment of that community.