Today we’d like to introduce you to Ernie Becerra.
Hi Ernie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story starts getting laid off by corporate America. I just didn’t feel like I could work in that environment any longer and wanted to be my own boss. I had passions for cooking but had no experience in that industry. All I had was a recipe book I kept with ideas and Mexican dishes, and salsa’s I was experimenting with. I was broke and out of work, and had nothing to lose. I had $1,500 to my name and took a leap of faith and purchased my first taco cart to start doing catering jobs. I had aspirations to wanting to open a taco bar but with no experience and no money that just wasn’t a possibility. I started cooking out of my kitchen at home and starting advertising on craigslist, and just starting getting my feet wet in the catering world. I worked my ass off and took any job I could get. Next thing I knew it was about a year later and my demand was growing, so I relied on family and had to hire more employees to handle the demand. Next thing I knew we were operating 10 taco carts and sometimes each crew would do two events a day. I started renting a small commercial kitchen in city heights, but we quickly outgrew that location and I was searching for something that I could build on and something that was close to my heart. Barrio Logan is where I wanted to be. My family was originally from there, I had spent a lot of time in that area eating at porkyland and las cuatro milpas and spend a lot of time at the local VFW. When I had seen that the old porkyland building was coming available, I set up a meeting with the owner. who ended up being Nick Inzunza the ex-mayor of National City.
I told him my dreams for what I wanted for Barrio Logan and the community and how I wanted my shop to be a big part of it all. He gave me a chance to move in, but the place was a complete shit hole at the time. . Nothing worked, everything was run downed, the ex taco shop owner left food inside the walk in with no working refrigeration, homeless were living in the back, and drug users were using a portion of the building to shoot up and it was just a nasty place. But I took pride in it and new I could turn the building around. And that’s exactly what we did. At first, we were a just a catering company (formerly, San Diego Taco Company). We were doing monthly tastings inside another portion of the building for customers to try our food before hiring us for their weddings or events. Finally I was in a place to grow even more and made the decision to do something different than any catering company was doing. I was going to create a daily tasting room; it wasn’t originally supposed to be a restaurant or taco shop. So I worked with my marketing manager and we started branding it, and the Name “Salud” came from a conversation I was having with a friend and I heard them say the “Salud” during our conversation and said that’s it! that going to be the name. When I pictured people saying “Salud” it’s always in good company, good faith and a toast to the most important things going on in our lives. I pictured people eating and drinking and enjoying themselves. So we opened the doors and first branded the company, “Salud by San Diego Taco Company”. After a few months opening the doors, Salud took off quickly and became its own monster.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Besides the typical difficulties of being a self-employed individual. The biggest challenge for me personally, was having to learn all along the way about the restaurant industry. I went into this blind and with zero experience. The restaurant industry is already a tough business to break into and with very little profit margins can be difficult to understand the industry’s up and downs. I learned very early on in catering if I didn’t charge what I thought I was worth, that I wasn’t going to make it. On the restaurant side, being closed for 6 months during COVID was a huge challenge. We didn’t know if we were going to be able to re-open the doors. And it felt as if something was being taken away from us. The Salud Legacy and to the people we employed that needed to provide for their families.
For the sake of Taco challenges and salud branding, and although San Diego has always had its share of “tacos shops”. You can almost find a taco on any restaurant’s menu. The industry is flooded with different versions of tacos, maybe making it difficult for consumers to understand good eats vs, mediocre eats. The Salud Brand has never been a traditional establishment, and I think sometimes customers and yelpers alike sometimes have a hard time finding a place for us and where we stand. I like to think of us (salud) as creating new traditions here at Salud. We are Mexican influenced, But we are pure “Chicano”. We aren’t a taco shop, and we aren’t a Mexican restaurant. We are more of a taco lounge, a taco pub and most definitely a taco experience.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about SAN DIEGO TACO CO, INC?
We are Salud Tacos & Salud Catering formerly San Diego Taco Company. We specialize in Chicano Southern California Cuisine. Our number one specialty is Tacos. We also specialize in catering. We do all kinds of special events to weddings and back yard parties. We’ve won many accolades for our catering company over the past 10 years. What sets us apart from others is our freshness and attention detail. We build our tacos in layers and our presentation is top notch. Our brand isn’t just a brand but an experience and statement. We are a positive movement for the Chicano Culture, and are very involved in our community. One of my proudest things of our brand is our Merchandise. We have always worked very closely with some of the best artist in town and love to showcase their art combing the Salud Brand. Check out our merchandise page coming soon on our website.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Obviously I couldn’t have done this all on my own. The Barrio Logan and Logan Heights community deserves credit for their continued support. My marketing manager for always being innovative and making our visions coming to light. My past employees who have moved onto bigger and better things but helped paved the way to where we are today. My current employees who have always remained loyal and stuck by my side during the hardest of times. My family, my kids, and the significant women in my life who keep me focused and who continue to help me build this legacy I want to leave. I can’t express my gratitude enough to everybody I’ve listed, But my Sister (Monica) my kids (Vincent & Angelina), my significant other (Vivianna) and all my loyal employees deserve a lot of credit.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@sdtacos.com
- Website: www.saludtacos.com
- Instagram: @saludtacos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saludbarriologan/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/salud-san-diego-5
Image Credits
Marketing Manager: Eric Casas
