Taqueria Corona owner Maritza Uribe brings Mexico to Oregon

What began as an initial effort to honor her father-in-law’s dream of owning a restaurant has now brought a tiny piece of Mexico to Forest Grove. 

With vibrant decorations, live music, an open mic night and traditional Mexican dishes, Maritza Uribe offers more than a simple meal at her restaurant Taqueria Corona; she puts forward an authentic Mexican dining experience rooted in both her culture and family.

“Since it’s a Mexican restaurant, I want to have everyone’s experience to be as if they are actually in Mexico,” said Uribe in a recent interview with News in the Grove. 

With no prior restaurant experience, Uribe and her family spontaneously decided to buy Taqueria Corona during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. While it was “crazy” at first, Uribe has now found a team of 13 full-time and part-time employees who help sustain the restaurant while sharing her heritage with the Forest Grove community, she said.  

“It was hard because we were doing it in the middle of Covid, which meant that there were no clients, and there were a lot of restrictions and regulations from the state,” Uribe said. “We had to learn little by little and check everything about what to do and what not to do. It was hard,” she continued. 

Uribe says she was able to overcome the strains of operating a restaurant with the help of her family. “I had to get my family to help me until we found an actual team,” Uribe said.

In addition to the challenges of opening a restaurant amidst a global pandemic, Uribe’s restaurant faced another obstacle in late 2023: a fire in the back of her restaurant that would shut down her business for nearly a month. 

“Somebody burned the back of the restaurant which compromised the gas meter, the water and the electrical, so it was all burned in the back and we couldn't open,” said Uribe. 

The fire had broken out the day before Día de los Muertos, a major holiday in Mexican culture for which her employees had already prepared lots of food. Despite the restaurant's closure, Uribe was still required to pay her employees for their labor. Simultaneously, she had to address the damages caused by the fire, which brought upon significant financial strains to her business.

“I had to pay the wages to my employees because it was actually the day before  Día de los Muertos, so we had all of the food ready for the day and the day after, but we had to shut down,” said Uribe.

However, Uribe was able to bounce back from yet another setback her restaurant faced. This time, it wasn’t just her family who swept in to help: she had the support of her  community, with donations contributed through a GoFundMe campaign  started by one of her customers.

“I felt so supported. Somebody made me go fund me, and the community helped me a lot,” Uribe said. 

Nearly two years after the fire, Uribe has not only continued to gain the support of her Forest Grove community, but has also gained a large following online. With over 10,000 followers on TikTok, Uribe posts food content as a marketing technique for Taqueria Corona. On June 18, 2025, Uribe is set to be featured on the web series America's Best Restaurants (ABR), where she hopes to showcase her restaurants authenticity and culture. 

“I want to let the people know that we exist here, even if this is a small town,” Uribe said. “We want to show everybody what kind of a restaurant we have. Even if we are small, there isn't another restaurant with authenticity like this,” she continued.

Uribe believes that her restaurant's authenticity is what makes it so unique. When asked how she keeps the authenticity going, Uribe said that her employees “have to learn everything.” She continued “If you go to little towns in Mexico, you will find something like this. The experience of having it here, it is as if we are in Mexico.”

Uribe hopes her customers will feel a sense of community brought together through food and culture when dining at her restaurant. “We are like friends. It is like you are coming to the house to eat with your family. We want to have that feeling with the people who are here, Uribe said. “I think we are reaching that goal every time someone eats here,” she continued. 

Find Taqueria Corona online and at 2009 Main Street.