S PLACE
M
ayra Medina is from the Michoacán state
of Mexico. Her father died when she
was six, and to make ends meet, Medi-
na’s mother took jobs cooking in other
people’s homes. “Her mom had to work
hard,” Medina tells me via Cirila Contreras, a restaurant
employee acting as an interpreter. “House to house, she
learned. She passed it along. In each house they taught her
different items — tortillas, soups. That’s how she worked.”
After coming to Eugene in 2015, Medina launched
Mama Mayra’s Kitchen: first a food cart, and then a popu-
lar brick and mortar location on 6th Avenue. Just this past
April, Mama Mayra’s moved into a much larger space in
the Whiteaker Neighborhood, right next to Laughing Plan-
et on Blair.
Popular Mexican restaurant
expands in the Whiteaker
BY WILLIAM KENNEDY
Medina says she didn’t intend to move, but when the
building of her former location sold unexpectedly and the
new space, formerly a Peruvian restaurant, became avail-
able, she jumped at the opportunity to expand her business.
I ask Medina to serve what she feels are her strongest
lunch dishes. She selects a sampler of chorizo, ground beef
and chicken empanadas, and a vegetable quesadilla. Me-
dina brings me a house-made, fresh chipotle salsa pack-
ing a good amount of heavenly smoke and heat. It’s spicy
enough to make my eyes water, but it’s hard to say whether
or not that was due to the fieriness or the amazing flavors.
There’s also a creamy, house-made guacamole salsa
and a small appetizer of pickled carrots, onion, cauliflower
and jalapeno. When the chipotle got a little too much, it
was easily quenched by the chilled, pickled veggies.
The empanada crust — made of corn — is light, crispy
and flakey, almost croissant-like. The meat, particularly the
chicken, is seasoned perfectly. On the side is cabbage sal-
ad with house-made sour cream and grated queso cotija, a
sharp and salty cow’s milk cheese common in Michoacan
cuisine. Also common in the cuisine of the region are to-
matillos and mushrooms, and they both show up in Mama
Mayra’s vibrant and clean quesadilla.
What’s missing? That mess of sauce and melted
cheese, so common in Americanized Mexican food. Mama
Mayra’s food is made fresh, with a new batch of rice made
three times-a-day.
Unbelievably, Mayra offers $1.99 breakfast burritos.
I’ll be sure to check those out next time.
Mama Mayra’s is open 8 am to 8 pm Monday through Saturday at 764 Blair
Boulevard. For more information search Mama Mayra’s Kitchen on Facebook.
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