Kent Treptow/The Olympian
Jose Sanchez (right), owner of Mayan Family Mexican Restaurant on Pacific Avenue, jokes with customer Israel Mendoza in the restaurant's cantina.

The county's melting pot: diversity breeds friendship

More than one in five residents not white

Orginally published August 15, 2001

It's about 4:30 p.m., and Mayan Family Mexican Restaurant co-owner Jose Sanchez jokes with a customer who promises she'll dance on the tables next time as she scoots her walker toward the door.

As the afternoon turns to evening, Sanchez seats two women in the dining room, claps Bill Welch on the back, greets Ruben Villarreal while he begins his chips, salsa and beer, and stops for a laugh with Israel Mendoza.

"A martini?" the bartender asks Mendoza as he settles on the stool by the counter.

Mendoza says the restaurant represents Lacey's friendliness and diversity.

"It's a lot more diverse than Olympia and Tumwater," says Mendoza, who has lived in Lacey for more than 16 years and is the director of the state Board of Community and Technical Colleges' Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Programs. "I think that's a real healthy thing."

Census data for 2000 show that what Mendoza says is true: More than 21 percent of Lacey residents were not white, making it the most diverse city in Thurston County.

And Lacey's minority population itself is diverse: Asians comprise 7.8 percent of the population, and blacks 4.7 percent. And about 6 percent of Lacey residents are of Hispanic origin, which includes all races.

"One thing you'll notice if you drop in here is there is a variety of people," says Mendoza, who regularly shares his favorite restaurant with other Mexican-Americans, young people and seniors.

Another regular, Welch of Olympia, has a Bud Light while he watches the Mariners. "(I) know pretty much everybody," says Welch, who trains boxers for a living.

From a table in the middle of the room, Villarreal watches the door. "I'm supposed to meet someone," he says.

He speaks well of his host.

"Jose is the type of person who greets everybody," Villarreal says. "He likes to make everybody feel at home."

Sanchez -- who also lives in Lacey -- started washing dishes in 1979 and worked his way up to area manager of a large chain of restaurants.

Before the evening regulars began to trickle in, Jose Sanchez shows he hasn't forgotten his first restaurant job when he stops by the kitchen. He scoops beans and rice off turquoise, pink and yellow plates with the swift motion of experience.

But Sanchez now owns the restaurant along with his cousin Felipe Sanchez.

He doesn't consider those who patronize his establishment customers. He prefers to call them his friends.

About 70 percent of the customers are regulars, Jose Sanchez says.

"It's not just go have some Mexican food," Mendoza says. "It's 'Let's go see if Oscar is there.' It's more than stopping to have a beer."

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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