A traditional Mexican family restaurant and welcoming LGBTQ center

Tucked away on a quiet street in New York's East Harlem, the small, family-owned Mexican restaurant and bakery has become known for its authentic food, but also as a welcoming community hub, especially for the LGBTQ community and beyond on social media. presence

“I realized that my family has already created a very welcoming environment for the Latino community, the Mexican community, the immigrant community,” said Café Olin co-owner Jonathan Perez, whose parents opened the restaurant. “But it was also very important for me to show my identity.”

Perez manages the marketing and business strategy for his family's restaurants. She has worked to create social media content that serves both the queer and Latino communities.

“I'm a queer business owner and it's always been important to me to showcase that on my social media,” says Perez.

The restaurant has hosted queer singles nights, LGBTQ+ paint and sips, and drag shows, providing a safe community space for anyone who enters. Perez said these events and the restaurant's proud social media presence have led to more LGBTQ+ customers coming to the restaurant, where they can feel good.

But Perez said it was difficult to come to terms with his sexuality and cultural identity.

“I think it was still very taboo, and in particular in the Hispanic community, in the Mexican community,” he said. “It’s like you don’t think (about it). You don’t talk about it.”

This feeling of isolation is something Perez said he has felt since he was a child who immigrated to the United States in the 1990s, when he was just 4 years old.

“When I was at school, in elementary school, kids would make fun of me and call me 'taco boy' or something like that. Then it will hit you and you won't want to eat tacos. You don’t want to eat the mole,” Perez said of the iconic Mexican sauce.

But what was once a shame turned into immense pride.

“Looking back now, it’s like we are who we are. This is who I am. This is my family. It’s beautiful,” Perez said.

Mexican immigrants are the second largest Latino immigrant group in New York City, according to NYC.gov.

The family's entrepreneurial dream began in 1990, when Perez's father, Juan, immigrated to New York from Mexico. Within a few years, he brought other members of his family.

Café Olin opened in 1997 and was originally a bodega-style grocery store that was converted into a dance hall on the weekends.

“Their goal was obviously to put money on the table and feed their families. But it was also very important for them to sell a lot of products that were reminiscent of the Mexican community, which was growing at the time, things like tortillas, frijoles, jalapeños,” Perez said.

Although Perez helped stock the shelves and clean the store as a child, his involvement with the family restaurant was not a linear path.

After a conflict with his family, he set out on his own at 17.

“Making my own money was also a big reason for me to move away from my family, but I think also finding my own community,” Perez said. “My first manager was strange and I felt identified for the first time in my life. So, I didn’t see myself going back to the family business.”

According to research from The Trevort Project, many young LGBTQ Latinos say their sexuality and culture have affected their mental health – 44% of them say they have been seriously suicidal.

Perez was working at a company when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and realized his family needed his help more than ever. So he quit his job and went back to Café Olin.

Perez said her new mission was to make sure other members of the LGBTQ+ community knew they were welcome at Café Olin, a task her own family also took on.

“They accept me as I am. We've had some really beautiful moments over the last few years where my dad, during Pride, expressed to me how much he cares about me and how he loves me no matter what,” Perez added.

At the busy restaurant and bakery, Perez's father and brother, Israel, do most of the cooking, and his mother, Leticia, is often at the cash register and serving customers.

Perez said it's about your family of opportunities and the family you choose.

“We started our own family,” she said, “and I was lucky enough to have some amazing friends.”