LATINOS FIND REAL THING IN NEWHALL; MARKET'S TASTY TORTILLAS ARE TALK OF COMMUNITY.

Byline: Erin Gebroe Daily News Staff Writer

Spanish-language newspapers lie stacked near the cash register, and clear plastic bags of sugary bunuelos line the counter.

Maria Marino greets a customer.

``Bueno,'' she said with a smile. The man buys a prepaid telephone card to call Mexico.

On the opposite side of the store, a young Mexican woman tears apart cheese for chicken enchiladas.

But neither newspapers, telephone cards nor even enchiladas are the hallmark of La Villa Maria Market & Tortilleria on San Fernando Road. Maria and Felix Marino's baby is the tortilla.

With roughly 75 percent of customers being immigrants from Mexico and Central America, La Villa Maria reflects the substantial Latino population in Newhall. And as the only tortilla factory in Santa Clarita - if you can call this neighborhood mercado a factory - it fills a hole in the marketplace, attracting people from all over the valley.

The tortilla, Maria Marino explains, should be soft. When heated, it should expand. It definitely should not break.

``The ones you get at the store, they're hard,'' she said. ``Once you taste fresh ones, you'll never go back.''

Tallying the numbers of Latinos who live in Newhall is tricky because the community is not its own city.

But the U.S. Census, which divides Newhall into two areas, reveals an 11 percent Latino population in one area and a 4 percent Latino population in the other, said Dennis Luppens, a city management analyst.

According to Lupe Lopez, director of the county Community and Senior Services center in Newhall, ``East Newhall and that strip that's along the Walnut (Street) area definitely have been the historical area where the Hispanics have lived.''

Marino sees a lot of people who live in those areas, some of whom, she said, come to her market, which is complete with a meat counter and produce section, a couple of times a day.

``People come in and talk to me with their problems,'' she said. One customer has to leave for Mexico. Another must take care of his mother who just underwent surgery.

``They do like that - the personal attention,'' she said. This is no Ralphs.

What she has noticed is that Latinos move to Newhall to live around people of their own culture, but they don't stay. ``They're not very stable. There's a lot of turnover,'' she said.

Both Luppens and Lopez estimate that the Latino population rate has remained relatively the same over the years.

The Marinos moved from San Jose to Saugus in 1982. Until opening La Villa Maria just over two years ago, Felix Marino worked in a tortilla factory in Los Angeles.

``It's been his dream, to open here because there was no one else who made tortillas here,'' Maria Marino said.

The market opened eight months after the couple decided the dream could come to life in a former produce market, which they connected to a former adult video store.

``It took a lot of work, money and time,'' she said, adding, ``We saw so many Hispanics, we decided that we had to do it.''

The market, however, also serves gringos. Beside the Inca Kola, a clear soda from Peru, and the Jupina pineapple soda stand rows of Campbell's soup and Chef Boyardee.

Along with tortillas and enchiladas, the Marinos sell a variety of handmade specialties at the front of the market, where they have put a table for those who can't wait to eat their favorite dishes.

A sign outside tempts passers-by: tamales and tostadas and menudo, carnitas and chicharrones. The sign does not explain that menudo is intestines and chicharrones are fried pork skins.

If you come to La Villa Maria, you know. And you don't leave without buying a stack of soft corn tortillas that expand when heated . . . and never break.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Maria Marino caters to Newhall's large Latino population with homemade tortillas at La Villa Maria Market and Tortilleria.

(2--Color) Francisco Chacon puts out fresh vegetables at the market on San Fernando Road in Newhall. Although the store is known for its tortillas, it also sells handmade specialties.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News