Pilar's on West Liberty

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parking at Tienda, the warehouses behind the minimall, and, at least for now, at the empty Fresh Seasons Market next door.

Nolasco-Rivers has been marketing her tamales since 2000 by cart, by catering, and briefly at a cafe on South State. The business is named after her aunt Pilar Garay, who came to Ann Arbor in the early eighties seeking asylum from El Salvador's civil war.

Pilar's Tamales, not quite open at press time, will feature, of course, her ample Salvadoran tamales, which--along with a spicy cabbage salad, casamiento (organic beans and rice), and hibiscus tea--is a favorite lunch at her cart at the Farmers' Market. Another Salvadoran specialty is the pupusa, a corn tortilla filled with cheese and other ingredients and grilled. "I call it a Salvadoran pizza," Nolasco-Rivers says.