Hot and new can steal the spotlight, but what about longstanding local favorites? Each month, we’ll visit a Richmond-area restaurant that has been in business 15 years or longer.
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La Milpa Mexican Restaurant & Market
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The patio at La Milpa
Martin Gonzalez opened La Milpa, a hub for authentic Mexican cuisine and culture, 25 years ago. “It didn’t happen by magic,” he says. “We’ve been building relationships.” The Mexico City native came to Richmond in 1988, and in the ’90s he worked in the kitchen at Melito’s restaurant and learned as much as he could. In 2000, he debuted the colorfully decorated restaurant and market, bringing Mexican food, groceries, home goods, luchador masks, soccer watching and more to the region. Gonzalez and partner Monica Chavez are committed to using La Milpa as a way to engage with schools, churches and local festivals and share Mexican traditions.
La Milpa co-owner Martin Gonzalez
This fall, they will host one of their most cherished events: the annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) gathering. The holiday, celebrated Nov. 1-2, combines Indigenous and Catholic customs to honor departed loved ones. Each year, La Milpa decorates an ofrenda (altar) and invites the community to add to it. The parking lot on 6925 Hull Street Road comes alive with cooking demos, art, music, spectacular Aztec folk dancing and fragrant food.
Their acclaimed tacos, including the crispy carnitas and barbacoa varieties, have kept customers coming back for a quarter century. Other menu hits: nopales (prickly pear cactus), pupusas with housemade curtido (slaw) and tangy tomato sauce, hefty tortas, stuffed gorditas, sticky-sweet fried plantains, and tres leches cake. La Milpa has been celebrating 25 years by offering 25 weeks of $7.99 specials through Nov. 2. October specials include tostadas; enchiladas; and molotes, a pastry pocket made from masa and typically filled with meats, beans, potatoes or cheese.
