OUR STORY

The concept and menu of Papalote Mexican Grill is based on memories of sunny Sunday afternoons spent in Chapultpec, in Mexico City, celebrating somebody's birthday. These gatherings would bring many families together and great pot-luck meals would be organized.

The huge park of Chapultepec is divided in many sections, which include an amusement park, a castle, a lake, and lots and lots of green areas. It was in the primera sección, the first section, that on the day of your birthday (or the closest Sunday to your actual birthday) your mom and dad would set out early in the morning to claim a little area where the rest of your family and friends would meet later in the afternoon.

Ideally you wanted to find a flat spot, so that the food wouldn't roll down the hill, and one that had at least a couple of trees nearby. The trees served a dual purpose. One was so that your parents could decorate the claimed area (set the boundaries) with balloons tied to a string, which were also supposed to make this area more visible to make it easier for your guests to find your spot. The latter was kind of a pointless task, because by one o'clock in the afternoon (después de misa), la primera sección had more balloons tied to strings than the biggest used-car lot you can imagine. Anyway, you also wanted to have at least one good tree so that eventually someone could climb up it to tie the rope to do the piñata thing.

It was neat to see my dad and my uncles laying on the grass, talking, laughing, not wearing a tie, just hanging out. And seeing my mom and the rest of the moms not telling us to do our homework and letting the kids just run around and have fun.

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