The Burrow

Today we launch with our new name - The Burrow - and retire the name Bandidas.

Since opening, we have been committed to being a welcoming place where everyone is treated kindly and with dignity. Therefore, when it came to our attention that the word "bandidos" is used as a derogatory term towards people of Hispanic & Latin American descent, we knew we needed to make a change. 

After 13 years as Bandidas, with deep connections in the community, changing our name is a huge undertaking. This process includes more than the simple name change - we have entered into a soul searching process and are becoming more active in a wider societal conversation. 

On one hand, some people will be irritated and think it is ridiculous that we changed the name at all. On the other hand, some people will be upset that the heart of the menu continues to be Mexican-inspired vegetarian food when neither of the owners are of Mexican heritage. And then of course there will be many people who fall somewhere in the middle.

In our process of changing the name, we also considered if we should change our menu. We know that being part of the dominant culture affords us privilege and therefore the responsibility to leverage that privilege for a more fair and just society.  After much consideration, it became clear that the marginalization of people who are not part of the dominant culture is a huge societal and multi-layered problem that is much bigger than our menu, and likely wouldn’t be substantively healed through a change in our menu.

We deeply believe in social justice and those values have led us to use our restaurant as a vehicle of social change for the past 13 years. As Bandidas, we have donated significant amounts of our profits towards organizations that are uplifting marginalized communities and fighting to break down social barriers. By changing the menu, there is a real possibility the restaurant could fail and therefore we would lose our ability to be active in the community in the ways we have been. Furthermore, by changing the menu to not serve Mexican cuisine, we would stop buying ingredients (chips, tortillas, beans, chillies, etc) from small businesses run by people of Hispanic and Latin American descent. When we consider the whole, we see that the most  impactful way we can leverage our voice and resources for a more equitable society is to continue with our current menu. 

Many people have asked us over the past 13 years how we came up with our menu and why we chose to serve Mexican-Vegetarian food. The primary reason is that one of the owners, Aiyana Kane, grew up cooking and eating Mexican-vegetarian food with her family in California - where Mexican culture and cuisine is well established. Being vegetarians, Aiyana and her family ate beans as an easy and affordable protein. Since her family didn’t eat ham, turkey or fish, vegetarian Mexican dishes were served for special holidays. Overall, legumes (lentils, beans, soy, chickpeas, etc) are all affordable, sustainable, and nutrient-rich proteins but not used much in Western cuisines that predominantly get protein from animals. Therefore, vegetarian and vegan food, unless consisting mostly of fake meat (which is expensive and generally highly processed), tends to be inspired or borrowed from other cultures. 

This may seem to be a long and meandering post because we are learning how to navigate through a big, important, and much needed societal transition. There is no ‘safe’ roadmap to follow. Therefore, as we navigate this change we must rest on what we know to be true. We know that we are committed to using our restaurant as a vehicle to influence social and environmental good. We know that we are committed to being responsive as things evolve in our society. We know that we will navigate by following our hearts and our values and continue to listen, learn, and grow. If you have anything to add to the conversation, we would love to hear your perspective. Reflection & dialogue is how we learn and grow as a community and society. 

The name for The Burrow was suggested by our baker and line cook, the local comedian/food blogger Rory Dunn. We love the name. We love the coziness. We love the underground movement vibe. We love that burrows are safe spaces for animals. We love that the name means refuge, shelter, or home. We wrote in our original business plan that we wanted our customers to feel as though they were being welcomed into a friend’s home. We are delighted with how well the name The Burrow fits with the heart of that sentiment.  

We look forward to welcoming you and yours to The Burrow.

We are grateful for our community,

Warmly,

The Burrow - formerly known as Bandidas