‘A snack and a safe place’

During her shift last week, Eva Viveros jostled a container of watermelon, cucumber and jicama – thoroughly coated with lime, chili salt and house-made chamoy.

That Thursday afternoon, June 1, marked the official opening for La Toxica, a snack spot where guests can customize cups of fresh fruit, gummies and spicy chips.

The "chilitos bar," nestled into the shopping center behind West Shell Road in Nogales, offers a seemingly endless combination of peppery and sweet snacks. But its founder, Karla Guarro, said she was hoping to build a safe space for children and families.

Speaking to the NI, she described an establishment where students could hang out after school and start their homework. Behind Guarro, a number of board games sat on a nearby shelf for customers.

"I did it so that they could be in a safe space, eating a little snack. And safe, comfortable," she said. "A snack and a safe place."

For Guarro, the menu fits for the intended clientele.

"With those little flavors, in the afternoon, suddenly you get a craving. Or on the weekend," she said.

Botanas preparadas – prepared snacks – are commonplace in Ambos Nogales, particularly at festivals and in food trucks. But devoting a brick-and-mortar business to the craft is relatively rare in Nogales, Ariz., where restaurant owners often cite difficulties maintaining their businesses.

The brand name itself – La Toxica, or ‘the toxic one’ – stems from a nickname for Guarro's daughter, Karla Renee Miguel, who often scowled and pouted in family photos as a young child.

A mangonada at La Toxica.

The phrase became "an ongoing joke in our family," Renee Miguel grinned. "When we start acting up it's like, ‘las toxicas, las toxicas.’"

As Viveros worked on Thursday, her gloved hands hovered over steel containers of chopped pineapple, hot Cheetos, gummy worms and blue Takis. Nearby sat a rotation of sauces: Tabasco, Valentina, Huichol, along with an apricot, tamarind, and cherry-based chamoy syrup. Filling an order, Guarro checked on several freshly blended mangonadas – smoothies infused with chili and chamoy.

"It's kind of a little Subway vibe, if you will," explained Hugo Miguel III, Guarro's son. "You get your cup, add whatever you want. There's many sauces, limes, salt. Build it to your taste."

And while Guarro spearheaded the idea, her husband and children are also behind the new Nogales business, taking on shifts and managing social media.

For Guarro's children, the concept makes sense – and their mother has been pitching the idea for a while.

"She's been raving about how Nogales needs a little place where high school kids and the locals can come in, have a couple of chips," Miguel III said. "Like a gathering spot."

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