by Julianne Bell
To get to Birrieria Tijuana, you drive to Burien, past stretches of suburbia and teriyaki joints, until you reach an unassuming parking lot that serves a Goodwill store and the Guadalupe Market, with its flashing marquee advertising “carniceria” and “panaderia” and “menudo.” Inside the Mexican marketplace, you’ll find towering stacks of jumbo white hominy cans, a rainbow of Caprice shampoos, star-shaped pinatas with tassels of tissue paper streaming from their points, and, at last, a striped archway with a sign reading “taqueria” that lets you know you’ve arrived.
Beneath a painted mural of a Mexican village scene, the flow of people queuing up in front of the DolEx money transfer kiosk never seems to slow or stop. The cafeteria-like blue tables and bench seats are populated by construction workers on their lunch breaks, families celebrating birthday parties, and toddlers gnawing on tamarindo sticks. A no-nonsense woman in an apron printed with the phrase “Deja tu lo guapa, soy una mamá bien chingona” (“Besides my good looks, I’m also a badass mom”) takes orders at the counter.