Something from the kitchen
Tacos, Mexican sandwiches, and other favorites make the counter a stop of its own. Explore the food before your visit.
Octaviano, Raquel & their family
A long road.
A place of our own.
Before La Perla had three neighborhood stores, there was Octaviano, a taco truck, and the hope of building something of his own. This is the family story behind the counter.
The roots run deeper than the storefront
From the fields
to a first
front door.
14The age he came
to the United States
to the United States
3La Perla stores
in Benton Harbor
in Benton Harbor
Octaviano’s story begins in Mexico, in the fields where he worked as a little boy. He went without shoes until he was four. Long before there was a business to build, hard work was already part of his life.
At fourteen, he moved to the United States. The journey that eventually brought La Perla to Benton Harbor started years before the first taco was sold.
A truck would become his first counter. A loan would help open the first store. And the work would keep going.
Built one chapter at a time
A truck. A loan.
A neighborhood welcome.
Every La Perla location is part of a story that started small and kept moving.
- 01
The first counter
Tacos from a truck.
Octaviano began selling tacos from his truck. It was a way to turn his work into a business of his own, serving one customer and making one meal at a time. Before there were storefronts, there was that beginning.
- 02
A place to grow
The corner of M-140 & Napier.
With a loan, Octaviano was able to purchase La Perla’s first location at M-140 and Napier. The business that started with a truck now had a front door. A Mexican market and taco counter came together in a place neighbors could return to.
Visit the original store - 03
The next chapters
Pipestone. Then M-152.
The next step was Pipestone Road. M-152 followed, bringing La Perla to three Benton Harbor locations. Each new address carried the same idea forward: Mexican food, a market for home, and another reason to stop in.
Meet all three stores
The family behind La Perla
Octaviano.
Raquel.
Four kids. One story.
At the heart of La Perla are Octaviano, his wife Raquel, and their four children. The stores are part of their family’s story—from his beginnings in Mexico to the life they have built here.
That history gives the name above the door its meaning. La Perla is a place to pick up lunch, find a familiar ingredient, and bring a little more to your own family’s table.
When you stop in, you become part of the next chapter.
Come make yourself at homeThe everyday mix
Good food. Something for home.
The kitchen and market are still at the center of a La Perla visit.
Something for home
The market adds Mexican groceries, specialty ingredients, sodas, and sweet breads to the trip.