The customer base of these increasingly popular restaurants is diverse. Because their dishes are generally reasonably priced and, sometimes, even under-priced, Chinese-owned Mexican restaurants are attractive to hungry consumers looking for a cheap meal. These affordable foods are convenient for high school students with limited spending money, workers on short lunch breaks, and pretty much anyone of any age and profession with an appetite for Mexican cuisine.
A snippet of Taco Bandito’s menu. All items on the complete menu are under $6.95, with the exception of “Fajitas by the Pound.”
Despite offering solely Mexican food, the restaurants’ customer bases are not limited to any particular race. Unlike traditional Chinese restaurants that almost always cater to Chinese exclusively, Chinese-owned Mexican joints are inviting to New Yorkers and visitors from all over the world. While some restaurants may draw in more Hispanic and Latin American consumers on account of their location, these restaurants experience largely varied clientele on the whole.
Customers ordering food at Taco Bandito.
Chinese-owned Mexican restaurants owe their heterogeneous customer bases to the diversity of the city. The pie charts below compare the racial makeups of the five boroughs, which affect the demographics of consumers observed at these restaurants.
Queens is, arguably, the most diverse borough, as it is not dominated by any particular racial group. The customer base of Chinese-owned Mexican restaurants in Queens is likely to be more diverse than those of joints in other boroughs. The approximated racial percentages are:
- White: 32.9%
- Hispanic: 25.0%
- Black: 19.0%
- Asian: 17.5%
- American Indian: 0.3%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.04%
- Two or more races: 4.1%
- Other: 1.3%
B
rooklyn, like Queens, is relatively diverse. However, Chinese-owned Mexican restaurants in Brooklyn are more likely to take in more white and black residents since those two racial groups are more prominent in the borough. The approximated racial percentages are:
- White: 34.7%
- Hispanic: 19.8%
- Black: 34.4%
- Asian: 7.5%
- American Indian: 0.2%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.03%
- Two or more races: 2.8%
- Other: 0.7%
Interestingly, the Bronx, which has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents out of the five boroughs, is not home to any notable Chinese-owned Mexican restaurants. The approximated racial percentages are:
- White: 14.5%
- Hispanic: 48.4%
- Black: 31.2%
- Asian: 2.9%
- American Indian: 0.3%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.04%
- Two or more races: 2.0%
- Other: 0.6%
Manhattan, in which a majority of the Chinese-owned Mexican restaurants are located, has a noticeably large percentage of white residents. However, because so many people of various ethnic backgrounds work in and pass through the borough on a daily basis, the customer bases of these restaurants are extremely diverse. The approximated racial percentages are:
- White: 45.8%
- Hispanic: 27.2%
- Black: 15.3%
- Asian: 9.3%
- American Indian: 0.2%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.04%
- Two or more races: 1.9%
- Other: 0.4%
Finally, Staten Island has a predominately white population. As a result, the customer bases of the few Chinese-owned Mexican restaurants in the borough are likely to receive more white consumers than those of any other racial background. The approximated racial percentages are:
- White: 71.3%
- Hispanic: 12.1%
- Black: 8.9%
- Asian: 5.6%
- American Indian: 0.1%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0.03%
- Two or more races: 1.8%
- Other: 0.2%
