Religion in a Restaurant

     

 

 

While exploring the Lower East Side, I found a Venezuelan restaurant called Caracas Arepas. I decided to eat dinner there with a friend and upon entering, I saw many religious figures. The ones that most caught my eye were of Mary. They reminded me of the reading we did rather early in the semester about the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations. None of the Marys in the restaurant were the actual depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as it was a Venezuelan restaurant that I went to. Some of the depictions of Mary were painted directly on the wall, as seen in the second picture and somewhat in the first picture. There were also figures mounted on the wall, as seen in the first picture. They are not all in the same position, as three are holding the baby Jesus and the others are holding their arms downwardly open.

This reminded me of Our Lady of Guadalupe because of the significance of Mary to the Catholics who migrated from Mexico in the last half of the 1800s. In the reading we did in class, the Mexicans were those celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but many of those who migrated from Central and South America were also Catholics. As this restaurant and its owner are Venezuelan, the strong faith seems to be a consistent theme across the readings and my experience at the restaurant. The way that the figures and paintings were displayed showed the pride they felt in their religion as well as the significance that it holds in their lives. It was vastly different from any restaurants I had visited before, including other Hispanic restaurants.

The Catholic faith emphasizes the importance of Mary as a person of religious prominence. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico, making her a hugely important figure for those in the class reading. Venezuela is obviously a different country, but Mary’s importance carries throughout Catholicism, so she would be important to Catholic Venezuelans as well. I was able to talk to a waiter at the restaurant who told me that the owner decorated the restaurant with things that were important to him, which include pictures of his family and of religious figures.

In the broader context of American religions, Mary is an important Catholic figure. Catholicism, although not one of the first religions to be brought to the United States, has long been a part of the United States religious culture. Catholic churches and Catholic statues, figures, and paintings are extremely common throughout New York City, as well as throughout the United States.

Even more broadly, Christianity is the majority religion in the United States, making Christian relics and symbols extremely common and familiar. They are easily recognizable everywhere a person goes. This, however, tends not to extend into restaurants, at least in my previous experiences. This made my discovery at a relatively small restaurant in the Lower East Side all the more interesting. Seeing so many religious figures, including some of Jesus and the saints (for example Saint Francis of Assisi), inside the restaurant was surprising. It seemed strangely out of place, but also made the restaurant feel much quainter and family-owned, as was intended by the owner.