The solar canopy that the Gilbert family of Ukiah built over their tenants’ food truck is more than a refuge from the elements: It’s a symbol of the deep and supportive connection that the two neighboring clans have forged over the years.
Photos by Joseph Jenkins
Whoever coined the phrase “good fences make good neighbors” pessimistically assumed that neighbors can only get along by maintaining separate lives at a safe distance from each other.
For the neighboring Gilberts and Alatorres of Ukiah, nothing could be further from the truth. There is no fence dividing them, and their lives have become lovingly intertwined. The most symbolic and tangible evidence of their connection looms steadfastly above them: the strong, protective, and mutually beneficial solar canopy that the Gilberts recently built over the Alatorres’ food truck.
The two clans share a property on South Orchard Avenue, if only part-time: Matthew and Sarah Gilbert have owned the house and land for the past 10 years, and live there with their six children. Sarah and Matthew, who is a forester by trade, also run Mendocino Wool and Fiber out of a large workshop building at the rear of the property.
For the last five years the Alatorres have leased space at the front of the property for the popular food truck, Antojitos Mary. Maria Alatorre owns and runs the business with her husband Alejandro, their adult daughter Jovana, and their two sons.
If you watch the Gilberts and Alatorres interact on any given day, you’d think they were actually all part of the same family. Kids dart in and out of the house, grabbing snacks from the truck and chatting with the Alatorres—sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in English. Jovana takes a break between customers to chat with Sarah in the seating area, and cradles four-month-old Cassia, the Gilberts’ youngest child, in her arms. Matthew pops into his backyard garden to grab some tomatoes and corn, and offers it to Maria to
use in the truck. Jovana’s young cousins sometimes stop by to play with the Gilbert children. One of the Gilberts’ sons sometimes has sleepovers at the Alatorres’ house.
The two families have only known each other since 2019, when the Alatorres first started leasing the space, but they both agree it seems like forever. They liked each other from the start, even if it took a
while for their lives to fully integrate.
It was actually Mendocino County Supervisor Maureen Mulheren who connected them. When Maria Alatorre was applying for a permit for the food truck, she asked Mulheren, who was on the Ukiah City Council at the time, if she knew of spaces available to rent. Mulheren had heard that Matthew and Sarah were seeking a tenant, so she made the introduction.
“When we were developing this property, it was always our intention to use the land fairly densely,” Matthew said. “It seemed like a really good spot to have a food truck, because it’s a fairly busy street and has a nice big parking lot. So we got the permit to park a food truck, and had been looking for somebody for a year or so when we met Maria. And it’s worked out even better than we expected it to.”
“From the beginning, Mateo was very welcoming,” said Maria, who uses the Spanish version of Matthew’s name. “I think it was a little awkward at first because we were all getting to know each other, but not a bad kind of awkward. The kids were shy at first. But everything was actually really easy, because they’re super nice people!”
It helped that they both happen to be “foodie” families. More specifically, the Alatorres love to make it, and the Gilberts love to grow and eat it. The Alatorres decided to start Antojitos Mary—which is named after Maria herself, the matriarch and culinary wizard of the family—while Maria was out of work and recovering from an injury back in 2018.
“My mom’s always worked in food places,” Jovana said. “That’s always been her thing. So when the opportunity came up to buy a food truck, we all just sat down and talked about it. It made sense because my mom doesn’t know how to cook for a small amount of people – she cooks to feed everybody! So we decided to try it. We figured, if it works, great. And if it doesn’t, at least we know we tried. And thankfully, so far, we’ve done pretty well, I’d say!”
Their first truck was smaller than the one they currently have, which is why they initially focused on making “antojitos,” which translates in English roughly to “little cravings” or “little snacks.” The small, snacky Mexican comfort food items were a hit with customers, allowing the Alatorres to eventually upgrade to a bigger truck and bigger menu in 2021.
The Gilberts are omnivores who appreciate fresh, locally grown ingredients and scratch-made food. They are regulars at the Ukiah Farmers Market, and have a sizable vegetable garden in their own yard. The entire family is gluten-free, which has taught them to be discerning and selective about what they consume—and not just when it comes to gluten.
“I feel better when I eat lots of fresh food,” Matthew commented. “It’s as simple as that. And growing things makes me happy. We garden everywhere we’ve lived. When I was growing up in Redwood Valley we grew and made our own food. We raised goats for milk and had a big vegetable garden. We produced all our own meat, veggies and dairy for a good portion of every year.”
The Gilberts’ current garden includes peppers, watermelon, eggplant, squash, Hopi blue corn, beans, cucumber and tomatoes.
That’s not to say that they don’t appreciate when someone else does the cooking. Having a Mexican restaurant in the front yard is great,” Matthew said. “The food is delicious, freshly made, and plenty of it is gluten-free, so it’s a win-win situation!”
“I felt like we needed to build this for their business.”
Matthew Gilbert, Ukiah
Knowing they had food and family in common from the outset, the two families gradually, organically got to know each other just by hanging out and chatting.
“After work we used to sit down together, drink, eat snacks and talk,” Jovana remembered. “We never went home on time.”
The Alatorres warmed to the Gilberts’ charming young children pretty quickly. They would help them practice speaking Spanish, watch over them while their parents were busy with chores, or help them with their homework.
“The kids are amazing!” Maria exclaimed. “I love kids, and my husband loves kids, but we don’t have babies anymore. So we got ‘bonus kids’ when we moved here. And my own children don’t have any grandparents in town, but now they have ‘bonus parents!’”
A couple of years into their relationship, Matthew had an idea. He had been wanting to put solar power on the property for a long time, and was thinking about the best place to site it. He also knew that the food truck would benefit from being shielded from Ukiah’s weather extremes. So he decided to combine the two by building a canopy over the truck made entirely of photovoltaic solar panels.
“The truck needed to be protected from the rain so that customers wouldn’t have to stand in the rain to order or eat,” Matthew said. “It also needed protection from the sun to make it cooler and more pleasant during the summer heat. So I thought, let’s build a two-for-one structure that gives us power, sun protection and rain protection.”
The Alatorres were of course thrilled, and totally on board with the idea. For the Gilberts, it was a no-brainer.
“I felt like we needed to build this for their business,” Matthew added.
The structure took about a year to complete, and was done in stages. Drawings were made, permits were pulled, foundations were laid, the framing built, then the solar panels installed. The structure, which went live in May 2024, is 19 feet tall, and produces 9.6 kWh of electricity—enough to power two-thirds of the entire property, including all of the food truck.
On a recent sweltering day, a half-dozen customers could be seen enjoying their quesabirrias and tostadas in the shade of the canopy, comfortably chatting and munching despite the 90+ degree temperatures.
Jovana, taking a break from the kitchen, grabbed a cold strawberry raspado and took a seat with Matthew, Sarah, Alejandro, several of the Gilbert children, and her partner Sam. She reflected on how far the business has come since it first opened, how much the Gilbert kids had grown since they all first met, and how bonded they had all become.
“I feel like instead of getting a job, we got a family,” she said. “I love the dynamic that we have. It all just feels normal. We’re just one normal, semi-dysfunctional, gigantic family!”
Antojitos Mary is located at 676 South Orchard Ave. in Ukiah. To see the menu and hours of operation, visit antojitosmary.com or follow them on Instagram @antojitosmaryukiah
