By Gabrielle Lubliner
Hector Chavez is the owner of the very well known and beloved Jalisco Cafe, located on 1029 E. 7th Avenue, in Segundo Barrio. Today we’ve met him to learn more about the story of this historic restaurant.
CB : Hi Hector, could you tell us about Jalisco story, how did it started?
HC: Well, the first owners came from the state of Jalisco, Mexico, that’s the reason of the name. They had an other restaurant on Kansas and Third before. My Aunt, Antonia Chavez was working for them at Jalisco, she came from Mexico and found a job here. She married a guy who was the owner of the grocery store right next door.
In 1954, the original owners of the restaurant decided to retired and went back to the State of Jalisco. So my aunt’s husband bought this place from her for a thousand dollar. Only the restaurant was her’s, not the whole building, it was way smaller back then. There was no indoor plumbing, the bathrooms were outside.
CB : What could we find in the Menu back then?
HC : There was no menu! The diversity of meals was very limited for many years until I got here. It was simple but good Mexican food. There was Gorditas, Tacos, Enchiladas, Caldo, Red Chile and of course Menudo. There was even 5 cents Tacos plates then!
CB: It sounds like it has almost always been a family business. When did your family arrived in Segundo Barrio?
HC : My aunt is the first who arrived from Mexico, but soon everybody starts coming down over to El Paso. I had many uncles and aunts but she is the one who pretty much raised the all family.
CB : When did you started working here?
HC : I started when I was a kid to help her out during the weekends. Later, when I was in High School I worked here, I would spent summers with her here. I did that until I went to the Navy, then to the University. Then I started my own business in Restaurant’s maintenance. But this place wasn’t doing really good and I was afraid my aunt would loset everything. So I came back to help her and I finally decided to take over in 2005, after she passed away in 2003.
CB : What changes did you bring?
HC : Well, the current Jalisco Cafe pretty much started at this time. I changed everything, but the recipes are still the same because I remember all her recipes. I modernized the place so the place could stay the same. I still have customers that come to me and say that the Menudo still taste the same, it hasn’t changed in 50 years.
CB : What is your secret for good Menudo?
HC : You got to look at the quality of menudo because there are different types of ingredients and if you use the cheapest products it won’t taste the same. And the secret is to cook it all night long, Start cooking menudo at four o’clock in the afternoon until the next day. Also we buy the corn, we cook it and then we do the original process for menudo which is called Nixtamalisation.
CB : Do you have special events sometimes?
HC : Of course! We celebrate Thanksgiving and the 4th of July. For Thanksgiving we cook free Thanksgiving dinners for everyone in the Barrio, It’s a lot of work but it’s always very friendly. This year we cooked 38 turkeys!
For the 4th of July we organise a free book give-away event for kids, and we also give them Raspas.
CB : Where does this idea of free events comes from?
HC : I got it from her, my aunt. I remember that people who had nowhere else to go would come here. Some of them just crossed the border, others were junkies, or drunks and they had nothing to eat so they would come and my aunt after having scolded them would always give them something to eat. She was generous and careful to others.
CB : It seems like Jalisco Cafe is now part of the culture of the region even more than a good restaurant that has been here for a long time, how do you explain that?
HC : It’s a family story, I mean it’s not only family for the people who work here but it’s also family for the customers, because they have family memories here. They remembered coming with their grandparents or parents when they were kids, and now they are bringing their own kids. So it’s now a two or three generation story.
For exemple back in the 70s we use to have a Jukebox. After school some kids would come for snacks, they would put the music on and dance inside of the restaurant. Now when those kids come back, older, they feel like they are coming to grandma’s house. That’s how I’ve always known Jalisco Cafe and that’s how I want to keep it.
On October 2018, two friends, Junes and Reina are having breakfast at Jalisco Cafe. They both grew up in Secundo Barrio and remember when they were students at Bowie High School, how they had to run from school to come have lunch at Jalisco in less than half an hour, 50 years ago.
Deitra is not only Hector’s friend, always around with her huge glass of Ice Tea. Deitra is most of all in charge of the decoration of the restaurant. Today we asked her about her first experience at Jalisco.
“The first time I came, many years ago, I saw a couple, drinking instant Sanka coffee, they were coming especially for it. I think that the only people who were ever drinking Sanka coffee was this couple. And I saw her again when she came back by herself. Nobody else was drinking Sanka, but Jalisco Cafe would still keep it for those two folks,” said Dietra.
