Residents Show Support for Immigrants by Dining at Aurora's Mango House During Trump Rally

"Apparently Trump is coming to Aurora Friday to rally against immigrants in Aurora. Instead of that, you should come show support for Aurora immigrants this Friday by eating at Mango House," reads the description of a Facebook event posted by the refugee center at 10180 East Colfax Avenue that's home to a food court with stalls run by aspiring restaurateurs from around the world.

And people did indeed show up. While the crowd wasn't nearly as large as the MAGA hat-wearing one waiting to get inside the Trump rally at Gaylord Rockies in the early morning hours on October 11, a steady stream of hungry diners showed up at Mango House for lunch starting around 11 a.m. When I left just before 1 p.m., over 35 people were sitting at tables, greeting friends and placing orders at the three open stalls.
"We're very busy today, this will take about twenty minutes, is that okay?" said Amina, the chef and owner of Natoli Ethiopian Restaurant, who was working solo.

I was happy to wait for the veggie combo served over spongy injera — I'd ordered bites from the other two open stalls to snack on as well. Urban Burma, which is one of our favorite places to eat in Aurora, has been a staple at Mango House since Siri Tan opened the metro area's first Burmese restaurant in early 2019. One of its staples is the Burmese tea salad, a combination of fermented tea leaves, cabbage, tomatoes, garlic, fried peanuts and crunchy yellow lentils that's dressed with sesame oil. It's a light way to start a meal with a satisfying mix of textures.
Next, I dug into a chicken shwarma wrap from Jasmine Syrian, which is owned by Mohamad Alnouri, who fled Syria with his family in 2015 and arrived in Denver in 2017. His parents were patients of Dr. P.J. Parmar, the founder of Mango House, and he offered the family the opportunity to open their restaurant in 2018; it was the first stall open inside the community center.

As the veggie combo arrived, news crews showed up from Fox 31 and Denver 7, which was there to film its regular "good news" segment. Many people were happy to participate — the vibe inside Mango House was joyful as people chatted about why they decided to show up.

Some were visiting for the first time, others were Mango House regulars who were happy to see so many new faces enjoying the food. "My husband and I got tickets to the Trump rally so we could not show up," said one woman who instead went to Mango House to meet two friends for lunch.

There wasn't one MAGA hat in sight, but I spotted several people wearing shirts and holding bags with words like "love" and "peace" printed on them, and people had a lot of love for the Mango House experience. "We're going to have to come back and try more," one man commented to his young son.

While it's great that so many people took the Trump rally as an opportunity to try Mango House for the first time, it's a worthy stop any day. Three stalls were shuttered on this visit — Golden Sky Asian Food and West African Kitchen, which are closed for good, but I'll be back, too, for bites from Nepali Spice.

Mango House is located at 10180 East Colfax Avenue in Aurora. Hours for the food stalls fluctuate, but most are open for lunch and dinner daily. For more information about Mango House and the services it offers, visit ardasclinic.com/mangohouse.htm.