Rodrigo’s Tacos, a restaurant built with sacrifice

La Semana spoke with the man behind the dream, Rodrigo Nuñez Martinez, to discuss how is it possible to keep on growing and expanding in times of pandemic. When most businesses are closing their doors Rodrigo opens new ones, showing that sometimes with money it’s just a matter of trust.

“It was hard choosing what to do, because we found this opportunity in times of struggle, but I had wanted to open a business here for such a long time that I simply took the risk,” he said.

But the truth is that Nuñez Martinez did not jump to the void, he was able to find an opportunity using his 21 years of experience as restaurant owner, which finally paid off. Rodrigo’s Tacos is his third Taquería in Tulsa -- the first one is located at Pine and Sheridan, the second one on Southwest Boulevard and now the third one in East Tulsa; all of them are reflection of solid administration, but above all, of the sacrifice of an entire family always working behind the counter.

“The only reason why we expanded and why we actually do well is because we all work here, my wife and my children, they are the reason why we survive,” he explained. “This is a 24-hour type of business, even if we close at night, we do not stop, day after day it’s the same, work and work. The weekends, when everyone is at the beach or in the movies, we are busier than ever, there is no time for parties and birthdays.”

“The burden on the shoulders of my family is enormous,” confessed Nuñez Martinez about the collateral damage of work.

“There are so many obstacles that we had to face before opening this new shop. We knew that it wasn’t the best of times, that it’s a huge place, that the pandemic places multiple challenges and people cannot even stay to dine, only drive through, but from the beginning we were confident that the Hispanic community would support us,” said Nuñez Martinez about his leap of faith in times of Covid 19. “To our surprise during the first months our clients were mostly Afro-americans and Anglos.”

Nuñez Martinez and his family struggled, but through sacrifice and diligence they made a new dream come true, one that was possible to achieve with the wisdom of Rodrigo Martinez, knowledge gained only from life itself.

Rodrigo was only 16 when he crossed the border and came from Providencia, a rural town in San Luis. He had a strong motivation to cross, he wanted to achieve things and to live better, that was all.

“I saw that the people here dressed nicer, that they had good clothes, they could buy things, had a different life. Even if I worked as hard as I could on the fields, there was no way I could achieve this in Mexico,” he said.

When he first set foot in California, he understood that “making it in America” means learning humbly. “I arrived in San Diego and had the fortune of meeting good people on the way. My first employer gave me an opportunity in his Taco shop. He said ‘I don’t have a job for you but as they will ask for experience at any shop you go to, you can learn here until you know how to do things.’ I worked unpaid for two months and they he gave me a job,” Rodrigo recalled.

The path from San Diego to Tulsa was hard and had several stops, but the motivation and the values that moved Rodrigo were always the same, providing for his family, being able to give them a good education, health services and food every night, without asking favors. And that is the responsibility that he was transmitted to his children and that enables him to keep on opening successful businesses.

“Here if there is bread on the table, we all eat it, bit by bit,” he said.

Some might say the Nuñez Martinez family will create an empire of taquerias, still Rodrigo fervently believes this will remain a family business. Even though he would like to become a chain business, he believes the interests of the young are not the same as thirty years ago, and that is the greatest obstacle to overcome.

“Every day it gets more and more difficult to find solid labor. The young don’t have the same mentality as before, they are not hungry to learn and sacrifice. They just want to study and earn money not just minimum wage,” said Rodrigo, looking at his own life’s sacrifice.

That is why the owner of Rodrigo’s Tacos offers a piece of advice to those willing to invest in their future: “Study and do it with all your will, because this country was made for those who want to succeed, and to do it with responsibility. In America you can develop your skills and they will pay off.” (La Semana)