Primary Source Citations

Arellano, Gustavo. Interview by Randy Dotinga. Orange County, CA. October 9, 2014.
In this interview with Gustavo Arellano, the interviewer, Randy Dotinga talks about Arellanos
new book Taco USA and how the taco assimilated into American culture. Arellano first details how the
taco came to America, by giving the reader a little background on Mexican history. Arellano then delves
into the purpose of this interview and discusses what really authentic Mexican food is. Arellano says,
the idea of authenticity has driven the popularity of Mexican food among Americans for 100
years. This idea can be applied to many different types of immigrant cuisine, and can allow the
viewer to understand that California cultivates the need to always try and find new products (in this
case food). This point again backs up the claim that the California market allowed new foods and
restaurants to thrive, which is one of the reasons why immigrants were so encouraged to open
restaurants. Arellano goes on to discuss the thesis of my website, which is what ultimately drew me
to this interview. He says, That's the funny thing about Mexican food. Along with Italian and
Chinese food, it's one of the three main cuisines that are simultaneously ethnic and mainstream for
the American consumer. Arellano shows that immigrant cuisine has assimilated into American
culture and become part of everyday cuisine, especially in California. The food that is eaten in
Californian reflects the diverse culture and population of California, and Arellano recognizes this
influence. Although his interview is specifically about tacos, the insight Arellano provides on
immigrant cuisine can be applied to all types of cuisines, which is thus what caused me to use it as a
source.

California Roll. Isobune Sushi Restaurant. 1737 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94115. Date Visited:
Sunday April 5th, 2015.

Chop Suey. Chef Chus. 1067 N San Antonio Rd Los Altos, CA 94022. Date Visited: Saturday
April 4th, 2015.

Chu, Lawrence. Chef Chus. 1067 N San Antonio Rd Los Altos, CA 94022. Date Visited:
Saturday April 4th, 2015.
In 1980, Chef Lawrence Chu opened the first Chef Chu's in Los Altos, California. Chu
was born in Mainland China, and later raised in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Chu always saw
America as the land of opportunity and dreamed of someday opening "a restaurant on every
corner in America." However when the time came to open his restaurant he decided to pour all
his dedication into one restaurant. Chu's passion for food was created through his exposure to
Chinese markets, and ultimately he wanted to bring the freshness, and deliciousness of Chinese
food to America, while adding his own twist. Chef Chu's is known as a large hub for innovators
and technology engineers. It's prime location makes it at the center of Silicon Valley, and many
are known to go there for business lunches. My dad was one of these technology entrepreneurs.

He and his best friend would often frequent this restaurant with their coworkers, and later when
they each created their own families they brought us all here for huge reunions and a delicious
Chinese meal. Chef Chus was a meeting place for many different innovators, including
politicians and other business entrepreneurs. The many innovators that frequented the restaurant
shaped Chef Chus, and the menu was changed and perfected to target this audience. Again Chef
Chus was another example of how the immigrant restaurants had a large effect on the
surrounding Californian community, and how that community was shaped through the
introduction of the food.

Duran, Raul and Michaela. La Cumbre Taqueria. 28 North B Street, San Mateo, CA 94401. Date
Visited: Monday April 27th, 2015.
La Cumbre is a small restaurant located in Downtown San Mateo. La Cumbre Taqueria
was first founded in 1969. In the San Francisco Mission. Raul and Michaela Duran started the
Taqueria as a way of providing cheap, fresh, food to workers in the Mission. The Durans
believed in only providing the freshest and finest ingredients. They, ultimately, pride themselves
on serving authentic Mexican dishes with a Californian twist. Whenever I go to La Cumbre I get
the Mission Burrito, a large juicy burrito, stuffed full with many fresh ingredients. My friends
and I usually stop by at La Cumbre on a Friday night, to pick up burritos. All the employees
there recognize us whenever we go in and are all very friendly. The food is very quick and fresh,
and they allow us to pick in choose what we want in our burritos, in order to make them exactly
how we want them. I usually order the deluxe burrito with carne and extra hot salsa. The quality
of food is unbelievable and the casual yet thematic atmosphere makes La Cumbre Taqueria one
of a kind. This restaurant helped me understand, first hand, how immigrants created restaurants
and what foods they chose to keep and what foods were changed by the Californian restaurant
scene. At La Cumbre, you can see fusion foods, such as the Mission Burrito, but you can also see
classic Mexican foods, like Carne Asada. Ultimately, this primary source allowed me to
understand the development of immigrant restaurants in California.

Fish Taco. Rubios Mexican Grill. 38 E 4th Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401. Date Visited: Tuesday
April 14th, 2015.

Imanaka, Shoichi. Isobune Sushi Restaurant. 1737 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94115. Date
Visited: Sunday April 5th, 2015.
Isobune Sushi Boat restaurant was first opened in 1982, as part of the Japan Center in
Japan Town. The Imanaka Family, who had recently immigrated from Japan, opened the
restaurant after they arrived. The Imanaka Family owned many sushi restaurants in Kyoto and
Osaka, and when they immigrated to California they brought their legacy with them. Mieko
Imanaka came up with the name Isobune; "Iso" meaning seafront and "bune" meaning boat.
Isobune was the first marketed sushi boat restaurant in California and revolutionized how
American's thought of sushi. Ultimately, the Imanaka Family brought a new type of Japanese
eatery, which largely appealed to American crowds, thus introducing them to sushi and other

Japanese cuisine. Everyone finds sushi boats amusing. Sushi boats make eating interesting as
they keep a constant flow of delicious and fresh looking sushi rolling past you. I was first
introduced to the sushi boat at Isobune, as my parents took me here as a part of our visit to Japan
town. I instantly fell in love the sushi boat, and the idea of being able to choose whichever sushi
you wanted right off the boat. The fact that I didn't have to wait for my food also greatly added to
my love of the Sushi Boat. I have always loved California rolls (the creamy avocado, mixed with
the crab and no cucumbers) but my California rolls are usually doused in wasabi. One of the
main reasons I love Isobune is their Spicy California Roll, which is the classic California roll
with spicy tuna on the top. With this roll I still get the California roll I love but I also get the
spice I really need, which makes Isobune's take on the California Roll my favorite sushi
roll. Isobune helped me understand how immigrant owned restaurants had to adapt in order to
survive in an American Community. Isobune was originally a traditional Japanese restaurant,
adapted to include California Rolls, in order to attract more people to their newly opened
restaurant. The innovation of a Sushi Boat, appealed to the California market, thus Isobune
showed me how the traditional restaurants opened by immigrants had to adapt in order to survive
in the American market.

Kinch, David. Interview by Gabe Ulla. Los Gatos, CA. May 17, 2011.
Mission Burrito. La Cumbre Taqueria. 28 North B Street, San Mateo, CA 94401. Date Visited:
Monday April 27th, 2015.
La Cumbre is credited as being the first restaurant to serve, the now incredibly popular, Mission
Burrito, which is the culmination of a mixture between San Franciscan and Mexican Cuisine. The
Mission Burrito is a giant burrito, made with fresh and organic ingredients, and wrapped in tin foil. The
Burrito was first brought to California through Mine Workers and Farmers, who classically ate Burritos
while working. The Burrito was considered a cheap and easily portable food that lower class workers
could carry to work and eat on the job. One worker described the burrito in an interview written for the
San Francisco Chronicle. He said that the, Freezing cold five AM mornings, [were] the best time to pick
lettuce, owners needed a very good cook to attract the best fast crews. We'd get huevos rancheros at five,
sweet strong hot coffee with a shot of brandy at seven, then full spicy killer burritos at around 10:30, keep
you going till afternoon. I remember the texture of the shredded beef, the heat of the green peppers, and
the proper proportion of rice and beans. They were so spicy you didn't need salsa-- but you needed that
protein and fiber, couldn't survive without it. The workers quote highlights the classic components of
the modern mission burrito: the efficiency, the fresh ingredients and the flavor. Californias prominent
agricultural industry caused a major defining factor of he burrito to be fresh ingredients. The freshness of
the produce and meat in the burrito, greatly differ from the old, leftover, style original burrito that
originated in northern Mexico. The size of the burrito was also greatly inflated due to American
portions. America is known for its huge portions served in restaurants, and the mission burrito reflected
these huge portions, with the burrito stuffed so full that the aluminum foil holds it together. The giant
portions called for another new Californian invention: the giant 12-inch tortilla. The tortilla was created
specifically for the mission burrito, and was originally created by the owners of La Cumbre Taqueria.
Because they couldnt buy them in the store, they needed to hire a young high school boy to come every
morning at 6:30 in the morning to make them fresh. Ultimately the Mission Burrito is an example of
many original Californian foods that were inspired by Mexican cuisine, brought over by Immigrants. Not
only was the Burrito changed through Californian cuisine, but the creation of the Mission Burrito and the

prominence of Mexican food in San Francisco, and the larger bay area, changed the way many viewed
Mexican food, as it popularized and changed it to target the American market. This source allowed me to
see the direct influence of California on Immigrant cuisine, and was an excellent example of the process
of immigrant food I already understood.

Rubio, Ralph. Interview by Amy Martin. Scottsdale, AZ. October 19, 2012.
In this interview with Ralph Rubio, the interviewer, Amy Martin, questions Rubio on the
source of inspiration for his now multimillion-dollar business. She also discusses what allowed
his business to thrive. Rubio says, When [he] went to college, [he] knew that [he] was going to
own [his] own business, [he] didnt know what at that time, but [he] was always looking for a
market opportunity. This interview showed me the mentality that California bred, and the
thought process that went behind an immigrant looking to create a restaurant. Rubio shows that
the community must be looking for new food, otherwise this new restaurant wouldnt catch. At
the time of Rubios opening, California was subject to a new wave of young people, and thus the
market was open to the introduction of a new genre of food. Rubio also discusses the aspect of
reputation and legacy. For a lot of immigrants California and America in general represented the
land of opportunity, and the name on the building and the legacy of owning a business and
restaurant appealed to a lot of immigrants. Rubio continues on to address the idea of assimilation
and losing his own culture. By bringing over the fish tacos, Rubio was able to preserve a vital
part of his own culture, while also introducing it to the masses. Ultimately this interview gave
me an in depth look into the rational that goes into opening a restaurant as an immigrant.

Rubio, Ralph. Rubios Mexican Grill. 38 E 4th Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401. Date Visited:
Tuesday April 14th, 2015.
Rubio's Mexican Grill was founded in 1983, on a beach in San Diego. Ralph Rubio used
to always venture south of the border; to the beaches of Mexico to frequent the fish taco stands.
As he grew up Rubio started developing his own recipe, and slowly created his own flaky, fresh
fish taco. Finally, Rubio had the resources to start his very own Mexican grill. He took
inspiration from the Mexican taco shacks and casual vibe of Mexican beaches. I always go to
Rubio's on a Tuesday. Tuesdays are known as Fish Taco Tuesday's, and are subsequently the
most crowded days. Rubio's is decorated like its a taco shack on the beach, and its straw thatched
roofs, palm trees, and colorful walls add to the casual, Mexican restaurant vibe. The Fish tacos
are fresh, and filling. They are made with two flour tortillas, topped with crispy cabbage, and
finished off with the flaky cod. On top, I usually dump half a bottle of Tabasco to add flavor. But
my favorite part is the crunch that comes along with the first bite you take. Rubios was an
American development of a Mexican classic fish taco stand, and through the resources California
provided Rubios was able to make a small taco stand into a multi-million dollar industry.
California cultivated entrepreneurial businesses, and through this atmosphere Ralph Rubio was
motivated to turn a simple industry into a full on business. Through Rubios Mexican grill, I
understood how California industry helped encourage immigrant business owners to create a
business model that would thrive in California.

The Stanford Daily (Stanford, CA). "Discover Cuisine from around the World: Chef Chu's."
August 15, 1980.