For this interview, I decided to interview an owner of a pupusa restaurant called Ilobascense. The owner is friends with my friends family. I’ve met her a couple times when she’s visited my friends house a while ago, probably four month. She seems like a very nice woman and very determined on what she wants, Corina is in her early 30’s. I had the interview through a phone call and the interview was a bit rushed because she had to get back to work. The owner’s name is Corina, through the phone I could tell she was very confident and strong.
Q: How did you start your business?
A: I used to live in the next door to the restaurant and I would just make food from there and sell it there. Then, the restaurant next door they started renting it, so I ended up buying that place and started my restaurant.
Q: Why is your restaurant called Ilobascense?
A:It’s called Illobascense because I’m from El Salvador from a city called Ilobasco and I just added the ‘cense’ at the end to make it a little different.
Q: How do you feel about the community? / How do you influence the community?
A: A lot of people know the restaurant and I have a lot of regular customers. When they come in I usually know what they want already. I’ve made a lot of friends there. If I need to find someone to do construction, I know someone from the restaurant that always eats there.
Q: Were there any challenges? Any challenges right now?
A: I never really have time to do anything besides work. It’s really hard to find time to do anything with my family, to go out. I’m always busy.
Q: Do you want to change anything about your business?
A: No, I like how my restaurant is but maybe make it bigger but nothing else. If I made it bigger I could have more customers.
Q: How long has the business been around?
A: Uhm, it’s been a long time, probably 17 years now.
Q: What do you like about your job?
A: I like that I know everything, I know everything that’s happening and how things are supposed to be.
Q: What do you dislike about your job?
A: Again the time thing. When my daughter and son don’t have a place to be at, I take them there and they're always bored. They always tell me “mom I’m bored” “when are we going to go home?” And I have to be there, I feel bad for them.
Q: Do you want a different job?
A: No, I love that job. I’ve put everything into that restaurant, I’ve put a lot of time and effort, and also a lot of money.
Q: How is the experience working there?
A: It reminds me my childhood. from where I’m from.
Through out the interview, I could hear people in the background talking but I could not really make out what they were talking about. It seems like a very lively place. I could also hear music, I wasn’t sure if it was coming from a tv or it was actual music playing in the background.
After the interview, I knew that Corina really cares about her restaurant and she does anything she she can to make it one of the best places to eat. I could also tell that she really cares about her customers, they became her friends because they like her food and her personality. Her restaurant is one of the ways to feel like she back home in her own country, in her own city, where she grew up because of this I think she has photo’s of the city on the walls. I learned that there are different ways to show about your culture and where you grew up. Maybe, other people don't know about it and someone could stumble upon the restaurant, they could learn about the place a lot. And, also eat delicious food at the same time.
A: I used to live in the next door to the restaurant and I would just make food from there and sell it there. Then, the restaurant next door they started renting it, so I ended up buying that place and started my restaurant.
Q: Why is your restaurant called Ilobascense?
A:It’s called Illobascense because I’m from El Salvador from a city called Ilobasco and I just added the ‘cense’ at the end to make it a little different.
Q: How do you feel about the community? / How do you influence the community?
A: A lot of people know the restaurant and I have a lot of regular customers. When they come in I usually know what they want already. I’ve made a lot of friends there. If I need to find someone to do construction, I know someone from the restaurant that always eats there.
Q: Were there any challenges? Any challenges right now?
A: I never really have time to do anything besides work. It’s really hard to find time to do anything with my family, to go out. I’m always busy.
Q: Do you want to change anything about your business?
A: No, I like how my restaurant is but maybe make it bigger but nothing else. If I made it bigger I could have more customers.
Q: How long has the business been around?
A: Uhm, it’s been a long time, probably 17 years now.
Q: What do you like about your job?
A: I like that I know everything, I know everything that’s happening and how things are supposed to be.
Q: What do you dislike about your job?
A: Again the time thing. When my daughter and son don’t have a place to be at, I take them there and they're always bored. They always tell me “mom I’m bored” “when are we going to go home?” And I have to be there, I feel bad for them.
Q: Do you want a different job?
A: No, I love that job. I’ve put everything into that restaurant, I’ve put a lot of time and effort, and also a lot of money.
Q: How is the experience working there?
A: It reminds me my childhood. from where I’m from.
Through out the interview, I could hear people in the background talking but I could not really make out what they were talking about. It seems like a very lively place. I could also hear music, I wasn’t sure if it was coming from a tv or it was actual music playing in the background.
After the interview, I knew that Corina really cares about her restaurant and she does anything she she can to make it one of the best places to eat. I could also tell that she really cares about her customers, they became her friends because they like her food and her personality. Her restaurant is one of the ways to feel like she back home in her own country, in her own city, where she grew up because of this I think she has photo’s of the city on the walls. I learned that there are different ways to show about your culture and where you grew up. Maybe, other people don't know about it and someone could stumble upon the restaurant, they could learn about the place a lot. And, also eat delicious food at the same time.