It’s not every day that 11-year-olds can say they have painted a mural in an iconic neighborhood restaurant. But for Lily Diaz, this is not the case.
Lorena D’s has been a staple for Diaz and her family for years. So, when the restaurant’s owner Lorena Delgado asked her to paint a mural on the walls, Diaz was ecstatic to take the offer.
“I feel like it was a big opportunity, and I’m definitely getting more like, what’s the word? More recognized for my art now that I painted on a famous restaurant,” Diaz said.
Diaz said that she’d only been painting for three years, but fell in love with the activity as soon as she started. She enthusiastically added that she hopes to be an artist when she grows up.
“I love painting because it’s like my therapy, kind of,” Diaz said.
To Delgado, most of her customers feel more like family and she tries to make the restaurant feel like a home. The shelves of the walls are decorated with house plants and colorful Talavera vases.
Delgado said she had known Diaz and her mom Marlee for years. Marlee Diaz had been right around Lily’s age when she first started coming to the restaurant, which was then called Betito’s Mexican Restaurant, nearly 30 years ago.
“[Lorena] knew Lily since she was in my belly,” Marlee Diaz said. “Lily would just doodle while waiting for food and once [Lorena] reopened the restaurant, she asked Lily to paint.”
Delgado worked as a server there for 27 years, before the owners died and she took over the now 40-year-old restaurant.
Lily Diaz painted the restaurant’s logo, which features a woman in a traditional Mexican dress holding up a drink. Lily said it took her about three days to finish it and is already getting more commission requests from family and family friends.
Marlee Diaz said she could not be prouder of her daughter.
“All I do is brag about it and show everybody who comes in,” Marlee Diaz said. “All our friends, everybody in town comes to this restaurant and it means so much. It feels so good that my friends notice that and praise [Lily] for it. It’s amazing.”
