Herminia Hernandez and her family have been cooking delicious Mexican food at home for years and now are cooking for their community as well. Herminia and her husband, José Luiz and their daughter, Geraldine and son, Arlin are La Piña Sabrosa–an authentic Mexican eatery at both the Prescott and Chino Valley Markets.
They specialize in carne asada burritos and taquitos, enchiladas and sopes–a thick corn tortilla topped with taco toppings, churros and buñuelos–a fried dough pastry topped with powdered sugar. They also make horchata (a sweet cinnamon rice milk drink), lemonade and strawberry water for the market.
Last year Herminia helped her mother, Maria, sell tamales at Hernandez Farm’s booth, but decided to branch out on her own this season. She uses cilantro, onions, lettuce, garlic, peppers and other produce grown at their farm in the burritos, taquitos, enchiladas and salsas. She and her husband and kids also help out on the family farm–planting, weeding and harvesting. The Hernandez Family is tight-knit and hard-working. Everyone in the family helps out in some way. Herminia and her siblings were born in Guanajuato, Mexico. The Hernandez Family settled in Paulden in 1997.
The name “La Piña Sabrosa” was Geraldine’s idea. José Luiz’s last name is Piña and she told her mom she wanted to incorporate it into the business somehow. For those of you who don’t speak Spanish, “piña” is pineapple and “sabrosa” is tasty. And while you won’t find any locally grown pineapples at their booth (or anywhere in Arizona), there are plenty of sweet and savory treats worth trying. The carne asada is as good as it gets!