Area in southwest Las Vegas Valley being called 2nd Chinatown

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - ”The AAPI was really high, this would be a perfect place,” said Kirbie Delmo, the owner of Mochico, a Japanese-based dessert shop.

Delmo opened the shop last April, and for him, it was the perfect fit right on South Rainbow Boulevard.

“Most of our customers that’s what they said I’m glad you guys opened because we were looking for something like this and they don’t want to have to drive 20-30 mins that way and it was convenient for the people that lived around here,” said Delmo.

Originally from Guam, Delmo came to Las Vegas after 20 years in the military, with dreams of opening up a business. Demo chose the location of his shop particularly because of the community.

“We saw this spot we saw a Chinese restaurant here there’s a Korean all-you-can-eat BBQ right there’s a Jollibee here we know this place gets frequented by a lot of Asian Americans islanders Filipinos I’m pretty sure going to stop by here.”

And for businesses like Mochico and 7 leaves cafe on Rainbow Boulevard, the story is similar.

Noble Apo-Rodrigez is the manager of the 7 leaves cafe for the past 3 years.

“I do like having everything kind of close cause there’s this plaza and there’s another one down the road that has a good amount of stuff,” said Apo-Rodriguez, who says it feels like a bit of home here as he came to Las Vegas from Hawaii six years ago.

That’s been the case in the area on Rainbow between Warm Springs and Windmill, which is being compared to Chinatown.

“We do call it Chinatown number 2 or the 2nd Chinatown of the valley now,” said Catherine Francisco, president of the Nevada AAPI chamber of commerce. “The Southwest is one of the fastest growing areas in the valley, if not the fastest, if you just go up and down 215 you’ll see all the construction left and right for the AAPI community.Tthey are all moving in this area, it’s a large concentration for the Asian Americans and the Pacific Islander community.”

And the feeling of pride, unity and convenience has been the motivating factor for the rapid growth in the southwest valley.

“Slowly but surely it’s growing slowly and surely it’s making its own identity,” said Francisco.

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