Snacks Antojitos Mexicanos

Since we are huge foodies, we always try to find hidden gems around our community. We often find ourselves near Downtown San Mateo, as it is a close walk from school, offering a perfect afternoon snack. With the sweet tooths we have, unique desserts always seem to catch our eye. A quick yelp search showed that there was a restaurant, “Snacks,” with mexican desserts as well as other street foods. Obviously, we couldn’t turn down a delicious meal. When we first entered the shop, one of the first things we noticed was how colorful the shop was. The room was filled with character: a bright purple room highlighted with pops of neon pink and orange. As we began to peruse the menu, we immediately noticed that everything was written in Spanish. Given our inadequate Spanish 1 skills, we realized this may be a problem, and asked the friendly server for assistance. Using our best spanglish, we soon learned that the owners were actively involved in the restaurant. As a matter of fact, they were working in the back of the house. We decided to order their “mangonada”, a fan favorite, and to schedule a meeting with the owners. While indulging in our delicious Snack, we were introduced to Elsa, the owner of Snacks.

We quickly learned lots of interesting facts about them that we never thought and realized how businesses actually operate. For example, almost all of their fruits are directly imported from Mexico which definitely reflects in the quality of each meal and what makes them so popular. We also noticed that in each dish, both sweet and savory, there were many contrasting flavors which enhanced the overall flavor and created the perfect balance. Not only did we learn about these unique flavors but we also learned that Snacks’ cuisine was like no other in San Mateo; Snacks was not the typical Mexican tacos and burritos, but specifically Mexican street food inspired by Elsa’s hometown. With Snacks, we faced a lot of different challenges than we did with Mordisko. This was another big learning experience for us. While we may have been able to pass our spanish 1 class, by no means were we able to speak fluently with Elsa, whose primary language is Spanish.

As we noted previously, Snacks has very vibrant colors which definitely adds to the ambiance of the restaurant. It was so different from Mordisko which had accompanied a more modern and minimalistic style. For Snacks, we hoped to create a similar look, but to our dismay, when we presented the first draft to Elsa, she had seemed discontent and looking for something different. At first, we were struck with much confusion, as the site in our eyes was beautifully curated and incorporated both sleek looks as well as pops of colors . At this moment, we realized that these websites were not for ourselves, and if we wanted them to be successful and authentic, then we’d need to emulate the restaurant's values and what the owners were looking for. After undergoing our second rounds of revisions, which encompassed incorporating new styles and techniques that we were used to, we successfully created a bright and vivacious website for Snacks.

https://snacks-sanmateo.wixsite.com/snacks