The moment you walk into Seafood City, the scent of Jollibee chicken and the sound of Taglish chatter engulf your senses, taking you to Manila, Philippines. But the supermarket on South Maryland Parkway is special compared to its chain sisters across the country. This one is the heart of Clark County’s newest official cultural district: Filipino Town.
The Las Vegas Valley is home to more than 200,000 Filipino people. The one-mile stretch of Maryland Parkway between Desert Inn and Flamingo has always been a hangout spot for their community. But thanks to 90-year-old Rozita Lee, now they can officially call it their own.
“At one time, Filipinos gathered on Charleston and Maryland Parkway,” Lee says. “But as the years went by, most of them started to come here.”
As a highly visible community advocate and Filipino herself, Lee pitched the idea of the new cultural zone. She was inspired by how many local businesses in the area were Filipino-owned — 14 percent to be exact, according to Lee. They include Toto’s Grill, popular buffet Kusina Ni Lorraine, and Valerio’s Bakeshop. She and the rest of the Filipino Town Board hope to attract more.
Building cultural institutions is also on their list — the most ambitious being a Filipino museum in the Boulevard Mall. Lee plans to work with a curator to find ancient artifacts from the Philippines. The museum will be available to the public, of course, but she has a specific audience in mind.
“This museum has to be for the young generation,” she says. She wants the youth involved so they can learn more about their cultural roots and even display their accomplishments. She also hopes to establish a language workshop for those looking to learn Filipino languages.
Tiffany Biscoe agrees. Also Filipino, Biscoe owns TIABI Coffee & Waffle, another business in Filipino Town. TIABI is a must for Lee when she’s nearby; hence their friendship today.
Biscoe hopes to see Filipino Nevadan figures in the museum, like the state’s first Filipina legislator, Assemblymember Erica Mosca. “I think it’s just a great way to educate the community,” Biscoe says. “Anything to do with bringing culture to our city and embracing the diversity is really something I want to be a part of.”
Biscoe incorporates popular flavors of the Philippines in her café, like ube, mango, and coconut. It’s a way for her to connect her culture with her business. In the future, she hopes to see parades in the area and a large marquee that reads “Filipino Town,” similar to the one in Los Angeles’ Filipino district.
Despite its condensed plethora of businesses, Filipino Town isn’t the only place you’ll find members of its community. Filipinos first started migrating to Las Vegas for its economy and glamor, but they also stepped up during times of labor shortages. In recent years, many became teachers, as the Clark County School District recruited heavily in the islands. Before that, in the 1990s, many became healthcare professionals. Today, about one in six local doctors are of Asian descent. Lee believes it’s because of their hospitable nature.
She recalls growing up in the sugarcane fields of Maui, Hawai‘i, with her family. Her father earned $1 a day, but he and Lee’s mother still made an effort to take care of their village neighbors.
“We (Filipinos) are a caring people,” she says. “It’s innate. We’re born with that.”
The Philippines has more than 80 provinces and 120 spoken dialects. Lee has noticed that many Filipino Americans take pride in their hometowns, and sometimes it can get in the way of getting along with each other. With Filipino Town, Lee felt inspired to remind her community that, in the end, they all come from the same place. It’s time to unite them, she says. Lee and Biscoe’s friendship is an example of the connections they hope to see in Filipino Town.
“The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. And that’s what I preach,” Lee says. “And Filipino Town is a wonderful platform, a place to start.” ✦
