EAST TEXAS UNFILTERED w/J. Chad Parker: Featuring Mundo Villapudua

Mundo Villapudua joins J. Chad Parker to talk about family, hard work, and the path that brought him to Tyler. His parents come from Durango, Mexico.  They taught him respect, discipline, and a work ethic that would shape his family.

He talks about building restaurants with his brother Carlos. The episode covers long hours, early struggles, and the real work behind Villa Montez, 1836 Texas Kitchen, and their catering business. Mundo opens up about loss, healing, and starting over.

The conversation moves to his love for East Texas. Mundo talks about why Tyler felt like home and why this community means so much to his family. He talks about serving people, creating jobs, and putting down roots here. Like the video and subscribe to the channel.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

How our parents raised us, they're tough love. You know, um, they wanted to make sure that we used yester, no ma'am, open the door. You know, in California sometimes you you say yester to somebody and you actually get in trouble for it. Again, some of the things that we came to East Texas and saw and we're like, oh, what about your parents? What is kind of their their story? So my parents were both born in Durango, Mexico, and then uh his background was horses and cattle. He was a vaqueto. Vaquetto, for sure. I remember one time we had our first uh birthday party. I had a horse so that the little kids couldn't ride the horse. My dad said, Let me get on that horse. There's no saddle on this thing. I I don't need it. Don't need it. He got on that horse and made it go up and down and down about as fast as this thing could go, and I was afraid for him, but he ended it like a bag.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Welcome to another episode of East Texas Unfiltered. I'm your host, J. Chad Parker. Today we're going to explore a local restaurateur, a business owner, uh, and a job creator. Um we've had uh restaurant people own before, but uh this one involves multiple restaurants, multiple people, uh, making the community better. There's a lot of issues relevant uh to his business and himself here today. Mundo, thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Aaron Ross Powell It's my pleasure, Ted. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Aaron Powell Uh everybody I think that uh has been around Tyler for a while knows who Moundo is. And I wonder, how do you think it is that you became so well known uh to people far and wide by simply a first name.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Well, it is a a unique name. My my parents had uh quite quite the plan for it, I guess, I suppose. But um no, there's uh there's something funny going around. Uh everybody wanted a reservation or everybody calling the restaurant and saying I know Mondo. Yeah. And uh of course there there's some people out there that that want to correct that and say it's Mundo. Um, but I answer to both. Um I I love my name. It's unique. And uh the fact that uh we've connected with so many people in the area uh through the years. Um I think that knowing that we're in here to serve people and to be kind to people and love on people. Um in the end, my biggest goal is what that when people say my name, that it's with a smile on their face.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Well, I I don't think I've ever seen anybody say your name without a smile or without affection when they say Mundo. And you know, uh we know the greats in society, Prince, Share, they're all referred to by their first name only. And I think that might be true for you uh in the restaurant bar business, kind of uh, you know, as a becoming a local uh celebrity or well-known person. And did you ever imagine that coming from California?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Well, I I don't see any of the above, of course, but um it's just being kind to people and and no, I did not see that coming from California. Um I think that East Texans really take a liking uh to their people in this area, and and it's one of the kindest um neighborhoods that we've ever lived in, and we've lived in many through the restaurant business from California, Seattle, Idaho, Utah, and and we find that the people in East Texas um really really put that southern twist to to life and and just uh and the hospitality, right? They love on you and and the hospitality, of course. Um it's it's what we see, it's what we saw, it's how we were raised. And so for us, moving here from from the West, it was like coming home uh in a big way.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

You know, your outlook, um most of the time that comes from parents and the way people were raised. And you and Carlos seem to have a spirit of uh servant, you know, a servant's heart, if you will, uh friendship, uh loyalty, and all those things. Tell me about your parents and and and what kind of folks they were um and where y'all grew up.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Well, we grew up in Central Valley, California, uh, in the dairy business. Um so for those that know the dairy business, um you'll understand that that's hard work. It's hard work, it's work ethic. Um you've got to do it even when you don't feel like it, even when you're sick early, late. Um and you know, if you don't do it, the animals don't understand uh why you didn't get up at one in the morning to go milk them. And so usually if you sleep in for some reason, your alarm didn't go off or you shut it off about 5 a.m., they'll let you know. Um but how our parents raised us, um they were they were tough love, you know. Um they wanted to make sure that we used yes sir, no ma'am, open the door, all of the above. Again, some of the things that we came to East Texas and saw, and we're like, oh, these are the things, you know, in California, sometimes you you say yes, sir to somebody and you actually get in trouble for it.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

You sir, my dad. And and here's this guy that's my age, doesn't want to be called sir. But um the work ethic, you know, learning it from dad, watching him, he he put the example out there for us. There were times when when he was extremely sick and he'd get up and go work because he had a bunch of little hoodlums running around that needed to be fed and clothed. Um my mother, you know, we didn't always have um the best clothes. Uh we we we were limited, limited funds, but we always were the cleanest, and I promise you that. My mom made sure of that.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Um how many brothers and sisters? I know Carlos. How many other siblings do you have? I'm the oldest.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Carlos is the second, and then uh so there's eight of us total. Okay. Four boys, four girls, and um my parents started over when the youngest of five was sixteen, I believe. And of course, uh, I want to say that they thought they could do better, and that's why they started over. I don't know. And then they had three others? They had three more, a boy and a girl, uh, and another girl. Um, but yeah, uh very close. All of us are very close. Um, and that's something else that our parents taught us and wanted to make sure that we loved us, uh loved on each other unconditionally. Um, so very tight-knit family.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Well, what about your parents? Were your parents were they born in the United States? Did they come here? What is kind of their their story leading up to the family that they, you know, made with you and your brother?

SPEAKER_01 7:16

So my parents were both born in Durango, Mexico, uh kind of the northern uh part of of Mexico. Um and growing up, my dad growing up, um he wanted to look further north, you know, and so they had me, and then my father came to the United States and worked his butt off to raise money and and eventually bring us. And so that's why there's a big gap between Carlos and I with about a three-year gap. Um usually usually Mexican parents probably get going and they don't stop until they're gonna do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um but um, you know, that was my dad's goal, is to to give us a a better opportunity. And something that my parents always taught us, you know, we uh they would always say, we came to the United States to be better people, uh, to work hard. To this day, my dad has never collected unemployment. You know, he's 76 now, of course, but he's retired. But he never did any of that because of the fact that he wanted to instill in us and and show us that we're not here to take, we're here to give. And it made a big difference in in us. Um I I can tell you that I've never collected it. Um so th those are little things that that that matter in the end. Uh and it matters to us, um, just because we're we're following and trying to do what Daddy taught us.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Well, certainly, you know, you and your brother, I mean, I mentioned this in the opening, you know, the restaurants, uh, the taxes paid, the jobs, all that is is giving back to the city.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

And and and in addition to doing something that hopefully you guys really enjoy, which you seem like you do.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

You know, um I come from again, so the dairy business, I went into high school.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Was your dad, did he get in that just to have a job to make a living? Is that why he was in that?

SPEAKER_01 9:29

He loves animals. My dad, uh his background was horses and cattle uh back in Mexico. And so when he came here, it's what he knew and um it's what he got into and and loved it till he retired. He was a vaquero. Vaquero, for sure. Right? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

I mean, because not everybody, you know, when you think of Hispanic people and you think of Mexico, not everybody is working with animals, right? I mean, right. There's just like everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Right. No, there's uh there's different professions, of course, but um it's what my dad uh learned from his father, and and it's what he loved to do. Um I remember one time we had our our first uh birthday party for my oldest son, Mundito, and my dad showed up from work, and I had a horse so that the little kids can ride the horse and take pictures and all that. My dad says, Let me get on that horse. There's no saddle on this thing. I'm like, Dad, there's no saddle. He goes, We got I I don't need it. I don't need it. He got on that horse and made it go up and down, gallop about as fast as this thing could go, and I was afraid for him, but he handled it like a volcano.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Well, did you and Carlos did y'all graduate from high school in California or were y'all moving around during this period?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

No, we moved around quite a bit, and that was some you know, something that my father was working towards. It it it seemed like every summer around my birthday we were moving. Uh, and really Carlos's birthday, because mine's the 31st of August, his is the second of September. And so it seemed like every year we're moving and we couldn't understand. And why were you moving? Did you ever learn? So we did. Um the to t tell you the type of father that we have. Um my dad would land a really good job, and then he would have a brother or a cousin or somebody that needed a job. So he would bring them in, train them, leave them there and move, and then tell his boss and say, Hey, I've gotta go, but I've trained my cousin or I trained my brother, and he would do that for other people. And so uh finally I think uh he realized that that was not gonna be a good thing as we got into high school. Um we would complain, Dad, we just made all these friends, now we gotta move. And you know, one of the things there's always a lesson with my d my dad. He said, You're gonna appreciate this one day because you're able to go in to any school and make friends immediately. And that's the lesson that you need to learn today. Um, and at the time, of course, I would be great to keep my friends, but yeah. Um so finally about high school, he he stopped all that and settled in. Um and we did Carlos and I both graduated from Turlock High School in in Turlock, California.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

And then after high school, you know, what what year was this you graduated from high school? I graduated in 87. Okay, so you know, the year after I graduated, right? 86 for me, 87 for you. Yeah. So there is a large gap between 87 and 2007 when you opened Villa Montes, right? Yes, sir. What happens in those how many is that 20 years or or 30? Oh my gosh. Okay, let's see, 87. 97? Oh, that's 20 years, right? What happens? So you're basically 18 and uh to 38. Correct. What is what is Carlos and Mundo doing during those 20 years?

SPEAKER_01 13:15

So after high school, I fell in love with um automotive refinishing, and so that's the the trade that I picked up, and and to this day I still practice it, I still love it. Um but Carlos went on to college, he wanted to be a minister. Um he went to a college in Seattle. Um, and let me back up a little bit because this is important. Um Carlos started working for a gentleman by the name of George Delgado, a little restaurant called El Jardine. And he started busing tables, washing dishes, worked his way into the kitchen. And well, he worked his way into serving. Okay. And when he was 18, he started there, I think, when he was 13 or 14. By the time he was 18, he overheard George saying he wanted to sell the restaurant, he needed to sell the restaurant. He comes home and tells my dad, he goes, Dad, I want to buy this restaurant. Will you go in business with me? Here's an 18-year-old kid asking his daddy for his life savings, which wasn't much, but my dad's friends, of course, are all telling him it's it's an 18-year-old kid, like you can't do this. Like you're gonna you're gonna plumb it. It's the most failed business in the world. Six months, most of them don't make it. That's right. And um and my dad said I'm gonna do it because I know my kids, my kids will not fail a restaurant for lack of of work. And um and so Carlos goes into business with my father, and several months into it, the business is picking up and it's flourishing. The guy sold it because it it wasn't doing so well, right? And so Carlos would ask me to come in and help him on the weekends, and my mom, which was the chef at the restaurant. Your mom became the chef. My mom became the chef.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Because she didn't work there when Carlos bought it.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Correct. So my mom becomes the chef, and my father becomes her helper. This is where the Latina Cocina comes from. That's right, that's right. And um so, anyways, uh I get asked to come in on the weekends when when I'm not working, and the first words out of my mom's mouth was son, you're gonna have to smile, you're gonna have to be nice to people, say hello when they come in. Well, I had a different attitude. Uh working with cattle and working with cars, I mean, you're you don't really develop those people skills. Uh and so but slowly I I grew to like it and and eventually love it. Um and then I started having a family. Um so that now you gotta break up the pie a little bit differently, right? And so Carlos takes off to school. It kind of left a little more room in the business for for us to share that pie. And um eventually Carlos um marries, and at the time he's working for a gentleman by the name of Manuel Morales. Manuel Morales had some restaurants called Las Margaritas in Seattle, uh very successful. Um Carlos actually ended up marrying his daughter.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

There's a restaurant called that here in Tyler.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

There is, but no relationship.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Yeah, you know what I'm saying? It's like on front or fish.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good little restaurant, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Hey, before we pass the restaurant that Carlos and your dad bought, what was the name of that restaurant? El Jardin. J-A-R-D-I-N. It means the garden.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Okay. And when my mom and dad took that over with Carlos uh name change? No, no, they took that name and they made it a garden because it was just a restaurant called the garden, but really no garden. Right. And so they made it such a garden that people would pass us up thinking that it was a greenhouse, that that it was just a flower shop or something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

They didn't think it was a restaurant. No.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

He should have put a sign out that said restaurante. Um but no, uh it it became the garden. Um El Haradin restaurant in in Turlock, California. As a matter of fact, it's still there and thriving. Now, eventually you did y'all sell that to someone else? Uh George, I believe, liked what he saw and and came back and bought it.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

He bought it back. Bought him back. Yeah. All right. So Carlos, you know, Carlos is said to be a chef, and I he I've always known him to be in the kitchen. Is, you know, where does that come from? Just experience all through the years, just being in a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Correct. Um I want to say that he's a self-taught, but he's also taken a lot of classes and a lot of course, you know, week long, two week long, month long. Um, but he did not graduate from an actual culinary school.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

Yeah. Um but hands-on stuff, it's oftentimes actually better, you know, like anything else. It's better to learn something in real life than learn it in a book.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Yeah, yeah, you're right. Um Carlos has a gift um with the palate that not all of us will ever have it. Um and I'll give you an example. Sometimes uh when we used to travel, and and we did this a lot, we'd travel all over this country, South America, Central America, and I'd run into a dish that I really liked, something that was spectacular. And I'd say, Tyler needs this. And Carlos would look at me and say, You like it, I love it. He goes, but it's not the demographics. He understands demig demographically speaking, what the community will accept and and thrive with.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Right. Well, people that have lived in Tyler, Texas their entire life are probably used to a certain level of of taste and they probably like some things and don't like some things, right? And I don't know. Um is there a truly authentic Mexican restaurant in Tyler?

SPEAKER_01 19:32

There's some really good restaurants in Tyler.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

But I'm saying like the authentic, you know, when when you're in Mexico type of cuisine, does that really exist or does it all have a Tex-Mex fusion to it?

SPEAKER_01 19:45

No, I think there's some restaurants in this town that that can reflect the authenticity of certain items. Um but you're right. I mean, uh again, you have to almost conform. Um, just like at Villa Montes, for example, uh, when we first came to Tyler, we would go to these restaurants and uh Carlos would look around and see what everybody's eating. And he noticed everyone's got queso on the table. And so if you go to Villa Montes, you have a uh a tenderloin with queso on top. And I thought, Carlos, what are you doing? Like queso on top. He goes, believe me, just trust me on this. And of course it's it's a very popular item. Um, but that's that's something that um that tells us that Carlos is just a student of the game and he's always watching and he's always got a ear open um just to make sure that we're offering what people will actually enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

You know, the restaurant business is sometimes described as you know the front end and the back end, you know, the back end being the you know, the kitchen and front end being the servers, the hostess, the whatever. I mean, you kind of learned the front end, it sounds like at El Hardin initially. Correct. Is that kind of where it came from for you?

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Precisely. Um I always tell people I I got hired at El Jardin to answer the phones and and talk to people and and Carlos never let me graduate from there. Um but it's important to understand both sides and and then of course there's the books that you've got to keep up with and Taxes. Absolutely. Um I would venture out to say that Carlos is one of the best in the industry of uh not only being able to handle the front of the house, which you know firsthand he can handle the front of the house better than anybody, and the kitchen. Do I need to say any more on that? No, right.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

I mean he's he's full spectrum when it comes to a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

But you put him in the in the office and everything is in order, everything is is getting paid on time, hopefully. Yeah, right? No, but he he's very well around. Um I've always said that if Carlos and I did not work out one day, which I don't see why it wouldn't, because not only is he my brother, he's my business partner, but that guy's my best friend also. I've always said if things were one day to not work out, I could not afford a guy of that caliber to partner up and do what we're doing. He's he's that kind of guy.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

I know what you're saying. I mean, like my wife is that person, okay? She does about three jobs, if not more.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Keeps all the books, pays all the bills. I mean, you're right. I'd have to hire like two or three other people. Uh, and you know, we're very fortunate, right? Because it's really what it is, it's love that's the foundation of that relationship. Uh and you're lucky that you two can be business partners, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Uh I'm privileged, I'm I'm honored, but you know, something that uh that I'd love to share with you, as long as Carlos and I have been in business, you would think that there would be multiple times. Disagreements.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Of disagreements, of of of the clashing, you know, a woman getting in between you. Hey, why is Mundo getting all the money? Right. Um Mundo's not even cooking, Carlos.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Exactly, right? Um no, but we're we've been very fortunate, both of us, that that we've we've uh not had those incidents arise. And and there's a level of respect that we have for each other that I believe keeps us from going there. And again, it's something that my mom and my dad, and I say my because that's the way we say it, um I should say are, right? Right. Um, but it's our parents instilled that in us and said, hey, your business partners, your brothers, you know, hopefully you're you're also best friends. Well, we are. And and that level of respect, if there, if it wasn't there, you can easily, you know, fire off on one another. But we feed off of each other and and make sure that if he wants something a certain way and I disagree, I have enough respect for and enough trust in him to pick your battles. That I can yeah, that I can go in and trust that what he's thinking is the right thing for the business for the family. Um but no, I I really I'm I'm I'm his biggest fan.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

What about personalities? Are you and Carlos exactly alike, completely opposite? How would you describe y'all's relationship?

SPEAKER_01 24:39

We're completely the opposite. Um I guarantee you you can pay him $100,000 to come in and do what we're doing right now. He's he's very shy. Um he he's a lot more quiet, uh, where I can be a lot more um uh a little bit out there.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Um I'm I'm not um But you've kind of been the you know the marketer indirectly with your personality with you know Tyler Smith County, haven't you?

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Again, I I it kind of it kind of just happened. Um we didn't go in this and saying I'm gonna I'm gonna be the guy out there, you know, trying to meet people, talk to people. It just happened. Uh and Chad, I'll tell you, when we came uh to Tyler, um we had just uh been in Utah where things were going really, really well. Um two restaurants, um number one and number two restaurant in in Logan, Utah.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

What size of city is Logan, Utah?

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Oh gosh. Um similar to Tyler or a lot bigger or smaller? It's similar to Tyler um in size. Um but I tell you, we were the the th what I was trying to tell you here is we're there, we're thinking we're finished, moving around, kind of like what dad did with us. We wanted to settle in, settle down. And in 2005, Super Bowl Sunday, we we got in a car accident on our way back from Carlos's home in Idaho. We lived in Utah, just on the other side of the border, a couple hours away. And we got in an accident and it took the life of our oldest son, Mundito. But I'll tell you, it's had one of the things that that got me that day, uh, before the accident, uh Mundito was a a stud athlete. Uh he wrestled, played football. When I tell you stud, like you know you know the term stud uh first hand.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

How old was he when this happened?

SPEAKER_01 26:52

He he was 13.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

All right. And I've never heard you say that. I've never heard this story.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Yeah, so um so at the beginning of the game, Carlos offers me a beer, and I cannot remember the last Super Bowl. I didn't have a a cocktail. I mean Super Bowl Sunday, let's have a beer or two, right? Yeah. But my son had had a wrestling tournament that weekend and his feet were sore, and and he laid across the couch from me and put his size 12 shoe on my on my thighs and said, Daddy, can you massage my le my feet? Daddy, can you massage my hand? And I felt something so special that my 13-year-old son still loved his daddy enough to to be so close, right? And when Carlos offered me that drink, I said, no, I'm I'm I'm spending time with my boy. This is special right here, man. And we left that evening after the game, and and of course, we never made it home uh in one piece. Um and and that you know, you want to talk about changing your life in on a dime. Um it changed our lives completely. Um not only for the business uh but the family, of course. So we moved back to California and and uh to heal uh physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And um and that was oh five, like I said, in 07 we found Tyler, Texas, and uh made that move. And uh it it it's uh it's gotta be one of the best moves we've ever made, um, unexpectedly, of course. Um but you know, landing landing Tyler for us was was uh part of the healing process as well.

SPEAKER_00 28:55

Um how does how does two guys, you know, I'm assuming looking for a place to go from California. How how does Tyler even show up on the map, the restaurant, Mansion on the Hill, Giuseppe, how does this all even work into you and Carlos's life?

SPEAKER_01 29:13

We uh we were looking after the accident, we we decided that uh Logan was not gonna be a place to stay because of of the memories, and uh Munito's mother just definitely did not want to stay there. Yeah. And not only that, but the bus showing up it uh it literally came in our back door. And nobody to go out there and get on the bus. Yeah. Yeah. So all of those things uh mattered uh to us as a family, and and I wanted to respect that and and honor that, of course. Um but when um when we decided we had one more move, uh Carlos took, and when I say this, he literally took a year off and started doing his research and looking. And when he's calling me from Baltimore and Tampa Bay, I said, Carlos, I the furthest I will go with you is Texas. And and you gotta remember we always had Texas on the radar. We we grew up um in a community where lots of farming, right? And I know I'm going all over the map, but you're gonna be a few years. Cowboy fans. I know, I know. I love Chris Cooper. I love Chris Cooper. We love the cowboys. But make a long story short, we we grew up in a uh farming community, right? In the So Dairies, and when I went to school, and we moved around a lot, remember I said that a minute ago. I always used to get made fun of because when the teachers would ask me, Well, where are you from, Mundo? and tell us where you well, I would always say, I'm from Mexico. And the kid that was darker than me would say he was from Texas. He didn't get made fun of, but I did. And so after about three or four of those moves like that, I got real smart and I started saying I was from Texas. Of course, my mom thought it was hair hilarious, and she called uh called me her little Texan boy. Um, so through that we learned to want to know more about Texas, and and of course we fell in love with the cowboys and the cheerleaders and all of that. Um and so when I told Carlos the furthest I'll go with you, Carlos, is Texas. I didn't realize he was gonna push me to the edge. East Texas. East Texas. Um, but as we were looking and and as Carlos did his research, um we we found Tyler and came and and checked out Tyler and loved the fact that that we had an opportunity to to run a successful business in a smaller community, somewhere where we wanted to raise our family, um, had the hospitals, had the schools, college, and we're looking at it as a great opportunity to grow with that community. And and so, of course, uh when we found the mansion.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

Well, that's what I wanted to know. When you came, did you visit Tyler without knowing that the mansion was a target? Correct. Just to look for potentially you might just release some retail space and open up your own version of whatever restaurant you Correct.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

Um we ran into um the mansion and Carlos uh says, let's go check this place out. Was it for sale? It was. Um, but the the local community didn't know it at the time because he was trying to market it to Californians and to another person to come put a restaurant in there? Correct. Not just sell the house. Right. But um I think he was trying to market to those areas. If you remember back in 07, prices in Florida and and California were through the roof, and Tyler kind of kept it real. And uh so anyways And then the crash came in 2008. Correct, correct. But interestingly enough, those numbers at Via continued to climb. And um we were just uh we were just so happy to to have made the right call uh and come to Tyler um knowing that the task was gonna be a tough one. You know, you nobody knows you, you're an outsider.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Uh the restaurant's essentially almost to Chapel Hill. Correct. Did you understand, not being from Tyler, the the peculiarities of the Smith County people, you know, uh and destination restaurants and people going to the same one over and over, and you know, all the things that happen here. Did you see that when y'all went to buy that mansion on the hill?

SPEAKER_01 34:09

We did. Um, and there was a lot of concerns from uh people from the city where it when we would say, hey, we're gonna we're doing this, we're changing the name, but and people would literally, hey, Tyler's not growing that way. If you want to be successful, you gotta go South Broadway. But you gotta remember that's what Carlos and I have done in in previous restaurants. We took a uh a restaurant called Cafe Sabor in Logan, Utah, where it was off the off the busy road. Sabor Flavor.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

Flavor Flavor Cafe. That's right. Oh, I'm good, aren't I?

SPEAKER_01 34:46

I mean you're getting better, man. And um and so that didn't scare us. The fact that it was a little out of out of the way, uh, we thought that that could be a plus because it becomes uh a reason for people to come to that side of town. And um 2007, uh September when we opened. There about November we were starting to, oh boy, it's this is a tough one.

SPEAKER_00 35:15

What do you mean, like, hey, there's not that many people coming? Correct. It's a slow start for us.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

It was a slow start, but when Carlos and I have done these in the past, we do what we call a soft opening.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

We let people let their friends know instead of throwing an ad on the radio and and getting blasted in the poor service at the beginning of a restaurant always is an impression, an impression that's hard to get rid of.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Yeah, it'll it'll uh damage you more than you know, you you want to see all that money, but you'd rather take it slowly and surely. And and we were able to see a huge difference uh in December when people were buying gift cards and and uh you know booking larger groups with Christmas parties, office parties, that type of thing. Yeah. A lot of requests for uh catering, you know, hey, can you take a party at 20? And we're like, we've gotta focus on in-house right now, we've got to get a grip. And it wasn't until year two that we started venturing out into the uh catering aspect of it. But you're right, Chad. If if you don't take care of that business, especially in the beginning stages, um it it'll it'll damage you.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Aaron Powell Because I've known good places in Tyler that have gotten off to bad starts because, like you said, the service, they weren't trained, they didn't have enough people, they were trying to get open, and then people would be talking about them for years based on that first experience. And it it was a good restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

Yeah, well, it's it's already a tough business as it is. It seems like you you've got so much to uh defend yourself from, whether it's the weather, whether it's the economy, and and so on and so forth. The holidays holidays, um, the summer. There's so many valid excuses on why that business is not doing well, but but you've got to honker down and and trust that that uh it'll turn around.

SPEAKER_00 37:21

Well, you know, on the mansion, did you all have to do much work before you occupied the mansion as a hotel? I mean as a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Yeah. So there was a lot of uh TLC uh uh you know It's an old house built in the 30s. Oh yeah. And it's a continuous, you know, you'll never finish because by the time you get to the end and and you think that's it, you've got to start over and start it, start the process again, it feels like. But a lot of uh lot of little things that that uh that you need to be doing continuously to to make sure it's always presentable.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Well, you know, uh you mentioned the automotive work you did, and I can't help but look at this sign at uh Villamontez and wonder if this metalworking is somehow connected to your talents in other areas. It is.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

As a matter of fact, um when we moved here, I gotta tell you this, we were trying to get that front door situated. It was the last thing on our list for health department, fire department, et cetera, et cetera. And I kept running into people not showing or coming and taking a measurement, and you never hear back from them. And I thought, man, this this door is a it was a challenge because it's an arch. Right. And what we had for that door was a a square, you know. And so I called my buddy Paul. I said, if anybody can fix this on the on the 911, it's gonna be Paul. And so Paul has Fusion Metal Artworks.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

And is that all he does for a living? That's it. And the name of that business is what? Fusion Metal Artworks. I and do people call Paul for custom things like this sign that we're seeing here, or or are there other things other than signs that he makes customers?

SPEAKER_01 39:10

No, there's he's uh he's a perfectionist with staircases and um of course signage and rails.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Okay, so he's a he he welds ornamental iron and things like that as well? Correct. All right.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

And when you talk about ornamental, like he is the ornamental.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

You know, like you see nice rails and handrails and staircases. Even at 1836, I think there's some ornamental iron in there, isn't it? All the metalwork at 1836 was done by Paul. All right, so you got Paul. So Paul fixes the door, the restaurant gets open, we got a slow start, but we get into 2008. Right? 2008. How is 2008, 2009? How are we doing? You know, the first year in business at Villamontez.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

So September of 07 is when we opened, and then it was a tough going, but we were okay with that. We knew we had to be persistent, be patient. 08 hits, and all those gift certificates that we sold in January start getting cashed in, or in December start getting cashed in January, February leads up to Valentine's Day, and before you know it, on Valentine's Day, we're bombarded.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

So everybody's eating for free. Technically, technically, but and and they don't tip. Sometimes people misunderstand the tipping thing, right? And they might not tip because they have a gift certificate.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

Man, you're in East Texas. I think most most of these Texans uh do get it because we didn't feel that's good from uh from that aspect. But understanding what all those gift cards that we sold in December and and realizing, hey, we gotta save for a rainy day, um that's that's what saved us, literally.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

Um And the gift cards were given to people who didn't know the place and who were then exposed to it, right? Correct. And it probably came again, told somebody, and it multiplied.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

And so the restaurant does, you know, did did its first full year in 08, 09, we see an incline, 10, we see an incline, 11, we see an incline, and it was just a gradual, steady pace. Um and so, you know, it's just uh it's just been a uh a great move on our on our part, and we've been so blessed with these Texans.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

Well, I mean, I know uh everybody in the city, um, government, you know, people that have lived here, they all know you and Carlos. And uh, we know I think everybody would agree that y'all are a big part of the community, contributor and and friend. And so, you know, we're certainly happy that you're here. Uh you've done nothing other than expand since you've been here, and uh that ultimately leads us to, I think, 1836 Texas Kitchen, which is, you know, it's kind of a South Tyler uh real favorite. When did that idea get in you and Carlos's mind to open up a second restaurant?

SPEAKER_01 42:22

It wasn't until about the fourth or fifth year uh in business with um with Villa Montez that we thought, you know, we've got a Latin kitchen. Right. And of course, Carlos's mind is always, always going, he goes, we should do a Texas kitchen. And I said, Well, what does that mean? Hey, that's uh chicken fried steak. I know, right? And so Carlos's mind says, well, think about it, buddy. He says, Texas is like a country of its own. If you go to Houston, you're gonna have shrimp and grits, little Louisiana flair to them, maybe. You go to El Paso, you're gonna have the skilled enchiladas, a little Mexican flare. You go up north, steak and potatoes, East Texas, a lot of he goes, there's our menu. And uh and so he uh he got on the ball and and and uh started uh working on it. And when the opportunity came uh on old Jacksonville Highway, um a guy by the name of Brandon Steele uh helped us tremendously in in getting into that property, which uh at the time he he owned that property out there. So he was very instrumental in in getting us in the door, and and we're thankful for him.

SPEAKER_00 43:39

I guess for people listening who don't know exactly everything about your restaurants, Villa Montez is kind of a what we call a Latin kitchen, Latin cocina, right? And it seems as if there's you know, there's a there's a seafood flair to that place, in addition to meat, right, and and other Mexican dishes. How would you describe it? You know, the menu at Villamontes versus the menu at 1836 Texas Kitchen.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

You know, there's there's a saying my dad used to use quite a bit. There's a different way to skin a cat every day. But you know, you still see the rice and the beans, which is what we know, right?

SPEAKER_00 44:21

Right. I mean that's all that's a that's a side dish like like uh fries or chips. Right. You know, in in American cuisine.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

But I think that the uh the big difference is the Latin kitchen will encompass something like a carne asada with uh mole enchilado, which is very traditional at Tampiqueña, to the Mexican cuisine, to the chimichurri which you see on the on the New York strip, which is very traditional to Argentina, for example. Um but you also see a ceviche with a little bit of uh uh Chilean twist or a Peruvian twist, I should say. I'm sorry. Um so that's that's where the Latin kitchen comes from. It's not just a a Mexican Right uh It's not traditional Mexic Mexican food that you think about, right?

SPEAKER_00 45:12

Right. It's got the you know, the coastlines, I guess the ocean, like you said, of Peru and the beef of Argentina is kind of what you think about, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:20

But and then uh the seafood, you know, when you think of of Mexican food, I mean we've got seafood on both sides of of the of the of the country. And so Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of America now. Well we got that, we got the Pacific Ocean on each side, right? Yeah. Um But I think um I think having all those options uh for a menu for a Latin kitchen, it just it expands it and and gives us a little more freedom uh to call it a Latin kitchen versus you go to a Mexican restaurant and and you're sporting something from Argentina, which is very traditional Argentina or a steak, and just trying to give and explore something a little different.

SPEAKER_00 46:07

Um Yeah, then what people could get in another, you know, Mexican restaurant, you know, down the street, right?

SPEAKER_01 46:14

Right. Um and I think in an effort to keep the confusion from from being out there, you've got a mole enchilada and and m and you've got a Peruvian style uh ceviche. What what is it? What are you? Are you Mexican? Are you well we're not we're we're we're not all of the above, but still we're still Mexican. Hispanic, right?

SPEAKER_00 46:36

Hispanic is means Spanish speaking. Correct. Which would include Central America, South America, and even Spain. Correct. To some extent, right? Correct. Um But when you and Carlos see this opportunity, has Carlos kind of uh thought about this menu before you know the the retail space becomes available to lease?

SPEAKER_01 46:56

He already had you know, I've I still find notebooks um when we're cleaning out an office or uh one of the trailers where we've stored stuff. I still find booklets where Carlos has got notes. Um he must stay up all night because he there's a lot of notes out there. So yeah, he he worked on that menu for for quite some time. And due to our our travels and and uh experiences, you know, he kind of makes those notes to be able to uh remind himself of what he was tasting and and what he was liking at the time. Uh so uh I think by the time uh 1836 came to a reality, uh a good portion of that menu was already in stone.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

And so it looks like that you uh I don't know who's the business person or who's the uh you know if you, Carlos are both, but it looks like what you mentioned earlier. You said sometimes your adversaries are the weather, the holidays, right? Well, I watch over time the way you expand the the the patio outside from uh uncovered patio to a covered patio to an enclosed patio to some TVs in there, right? I mean, is that part of the thinking to try and put yourself in a position to, you know, work against people not wanting to go in the summer or wh whenever it is. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

Um for years when people would come to Villamontes is uh the one thing we always heard, you guys have always got something going on. When we came here last time, those garden beds weren't there, uh that patio wasn't there, et cetera, et cetera.

SPEAKER_00 48:39

Here's the patio. I want to show that patio because I think it's one of the better spaces in the city surrounding area to sit outside, you know, with lights in the trees, especially when the weather's good, have some drinks, dinner, right? I mean, it's it's a nice spot. It's a great spot.

SPEAKER_01 48:54

And and just uh to make sure if the mosquitoes are around, we always provide that. Um but uh and that's the same thinking that went into 1836, is is try to continuously do a little something, do a little more. Um one of the things that um that we believe in is making sure that the business doesn't become stale.

SPEAKER_00 49:18

Right, because it gets boring, people like new things.

SPEAKER_01 49:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:28

Well, it it it I don't know if you intended it this way, but when you guys talked about uh you know El Jardine, the garden, right? I mean Villa Montez kind of seemed like a garden around the house to me uh back when I I mean initially uh went very first time.

SPEAKER_01 49:46

So Chad, we come to Tyler, we fall in love with it, and of course uh we ran into Villamontez. Our mother's dream, okay, El Jardin was a small house. The biggest dining room was bigger than our smallest dining room at Villamontes. It was tiny. And her dream was that one day we maybe we can find a mansion, okay, and then it'll be a bigger restaurant. It'll be, you know, you want this. My mom was all about the the the experience. And so of course my mom passed away in in 2004. Um when we walked up those stairs at Vill Montes to talk to this man about his restaurant. We literally asked our mother to hold her hand and talk to the man that was owning the restaurant at the time, Mr. Joe Cassini. And she was there. I promise you, she was there because it worked.

SPEAKER_00 50:54

It would have been, I mean, obviously it would have been so nice had she been able to live long enough to come to the restaurant to see what she'd always kind of hoped and envisioned, right?

SPEAKER_01 51:03

Yeah. So um, yeah, there's no doubt that um that God had a vision for us. What about your dad?

SPEAKER_00 51:14

Where is your dad?

SPEAKER_01 51:15

Our father is in uh California. Um he's he's remarried to uh a wonderful, wonderful woman. Uh her name is Diana. Um we love her and and um talk to my dad every day.

SPEAKER_00 51:31

Has he been here to see what all you and Carlos have have developed and amassed?

SPEAKER_01 51:37

And he's not able to get out here. Um you know, he hadn't been here in probably three or four years, but it his his health doesn't allow it too much anymore. It's just uh it it beats him up pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 51:49

It's hard to travel, man. My mom, I know. It's hard for them to move in the car, airplane, it's all like I gotta tell you something about my dad.

SPEAKER_01 51:58

I called him um a few months ago. I yeah, you know, I've got a 10-month-old baby, right? Yeah, I knew you had a young one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

And I heard I heard it, I heard it in the background when I called you.

SPEAKER_01 52:11

So I called my father when Roxy and I found out we were pregnant, and of course I'm so excited. I want the first person to hear it out of my mouth is my dad. And I called my dad, and I said, Dad, you're gonna be a grandpa again. And he's busy, and I can tell in the background, oh okay, all right, buddy. Well, hey, hey, I'll talk to you later, huh? That's all I got. And so for a second I thought that was awkward, that was really weird. That's not the that's not what I was expecting, right? Because my dad is always so positive, and so so one of those days I'm headed down to San Antonio, one of those days where you hang up and your dad's supposed to hang up, but nobody hung up. And I can hear him over my over my speaker in my truck. Diana! Diana! Hey, I just got off the phone with Moondo, and he says Esteban's having a baby. I never once said Esteban, but I don't think he processed it uh loud and clear.

SPEAKER_00 53:19

And how old was Esteban at the time? And did that affect his reaction?

SPEAKER_01 53:23

Well, was Esteban younger?

SPEAKER_00 53:26

No, no, no. This was just last year. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 53:28

So this was in an effort to uh communicate with my dad that I was expecting Matias, which is 10 months old. So this was just uh so Esteban was definitely old enough to to have a a child. He's 27 right now. But no, one of those things where uh kind of backfired on me a little bit because he couldn't believe an old old man like me was old, you know, young enough to have another baby, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 53:52

You mentioned Esteban. Esteban he was here and then he was not here and now he's back here. Is that right? Correct. Because, you know, I I'm not sure it may have the first time I may have met you may have been at Golden Road at the baseball park. And I may have learned about the restaurant and you through that. I I'm thinking because I coached Esteban one year when he was here for the summer or something. Correct. Because, you know You got a good memory. You know, well, you know, I remember he was he was he was uh uh smaller, but he was fast. That's what I remember about him. Yeah. And you know, his name, you know, everybody else's name on the back was Smith, Parker. And it was Villa Puida or something, right?

SPEAKER_01 54:37

Yeah, Budua.

SPEAKER_00 54:38

Yeah, yeah. And uh and so and he was a scrappy little guy. He was uh, you know, one of the better players, but I remember you standing out there by the fence, you know, at practice or whatever. And uh and I never knew what happened to Esteban, and then later on, um I guess you came back.

SPEAKER_01 54:55

Um he uh his mom lived in California, um and so he would go back to visit mom and then uh stay for a year of school there and then come back and which was tough. Right. Uh uh, you know, we've gone through this uh with the same conversation. Uh it's tough on kids, especially when they get uh a little older into high school. That's uh definitely not recommendative.

SPEAKER_00 55:20

Yeah, if you can avoid it.

SPEAKER_01 55:21

If you can avoid it, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 55:23

But you know what's nice, you know, and of course I have a son, you know, uh Esteban's age, Zach, 27. Um, you know, to kind of work with him, which you get the chance to work with Esteban sometimes, I guess. All the time. I'm sure he helps out or does something. He's probably into other things as well, but I'm very proud of Esteban.

SPEAKER_01 55:44

He uh he he helps at the restaurant uh when we need him, and he's more than willing to come out and give us a hand. He's he's uh got a little company um with uh with Paul and I uh in the powder coating uh business. So Paul does all the metal signs and and almost called my son Carlos. Uh and Esteban uh works at the shop powder coating.

SPEAKER_00 56:14

I mean, do you have additional family members that help out with the restaurants you know that live here or that have come here since you guys have you know been successful? So when we moved out here, we had uh Crystal.

SPEAKER_01 56:25

Um she's actually a DJ in the uh uh Streetport market, very, very successful with it. Machica is her name. And um our brother Andrew, uh which lives in uh Seattle now. So both of them were very instrumental in in bringing that that good vibe to the tables, and and they're both very, very good with people. Uh we now have uh Mario on our team. Uh he moved out here about a year and a half ago from Utah. Mario's uh a little younger than Carlos. Um and so we're very proud to have uh the the triplets uh back in town together.

SPEAKER_00 57:05

Well, yeah, 1836. I mean, you've expanded that patio and enclosed it. Uh and I've also seen a food truck of some kind or two. I'm not sure. Is there a food truck, a family member, somebody that's associated with any any of that?

SPEAKER_01 57:22

I'm glad you brought that up because speaking of being proud, I'm I'm proud of all of my kids. Um every single one of them has has made daddy so proud. But Stephanie, my daughter, you can't outwork her, man. She's she's just a uh a vibrant young lady that uh that has a vision and and so that's her food truck. Um and she comes up with her own little recipes. She loves to cook and loves to share with people.

SPEAKER_00 57:50

And and so uh what a better spot than to have a food truck where you can actually go get a margarita or go get a beer while you wait on your on your tacos or your sopas or yeah, because I mean I think there was uh some type of Tuesday thing that she would do uh kind of in connection with the restaurant where people would come and would they get tacos from her and drink a margarita or a beer from your place, right? I mean I mean it's it's also it's very fulfilling as a parent, I would think, to do anything you can to help your children be successful. Right? Amen, brother. I mean, most of us we don't mind, you know, taking a little if it's helping somebody that that's part of us, right? That's right. Um now I've seen Taco Wagon. Is that her or is that something different that you guys offer or do? You know what I'm talking about? And kind of under the catering umbrella.

SPEAKER_01 58:44

So yeah, under the catering umbrella. I mean, I I can name off uh uh all kinds of equipment that that we bring out, but that taco wagon is literally a a wagon you bring.

SPEAKER_00 58:55

I mean, it's like a wagon from the old west.

SPEAKER_01 58:58

Well, no, uh not not quite that beautiful, but um no, we and shagging wagon, an old van. Carlos drugs up in a van. It's uh and Carlos Carlos would not be the one to pull he would be he would be the one he would be the side one, remember? Okay, you're driving that. Uh exactly. You first moon though. Um no, it's uh it's it's just uh it's it's not a covered uh wagon like that. We're not crossing the west. We're not we're not trying to cross the west again or the Rio Grande again. It's the bed of a pickup with a trailer hitch? No, man. It's uh so I bought this thing from a guy that used to be a vendor at uh Home Depot, and he did a lot of hot dogs and burgers through that. And so when we bought that, Carlos said, What is this? Taco wagon. I said, it's a taco wagon now, man. It's kind of like a little bitty thing, right? It's uh, you know, you pull it behind a truck, it's it's heavy enough. You need a you need a vehicle to pull. Um, but it's it's unique in that, you know, you got an open flame and you and you're able to kind of get in there and and do your magic uh with a small group or a large group.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:16

Is that what you do? You offer that to maybe take to some kind of gathering or function. Correct. And it just makes tacos and it's kind of a self-enclosed where you have all the ingredients and you can cook on it and all that type of this one is more open air, uh so you can't really hide behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:31

Uh you gotta stand there with it and grill and and it's people find it unique and find it interesting.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:37

And yeah, I mean I hadn't really I didn't really I didn't know of that uh until I was kind of looking into you and some of the details for the show. And uh I wonder if people were thinking about that. I mean, um is there a number of X people to X people that this is generally, you know, rented or leased for?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:56

Uh that one typically uh fifty to 150 people um it it can handle the bulk. And and if there's a lot of creative creativity that goes behind an expansion if somebody had a larger group, it can certainly be done, but that's more common for the smaller groups.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:15

What a if somebody wanted to have the taco wagon brought to their business for their employees or a function, what would they expect to pay? Would it be I'm gonna pay X dollars to get it there? Am I gonna pay for the tacos? How does that work?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:30

Aaron Ross Powell So typically there's a minimum to to pull the equipment out of the out of the warehouse. Um you can expect to spend about twelve hundred dollar minimum to to pull whether it's the taco wagon or the or the uh food truck. Um and you know, typically something like that, you can feed 50 people and and if you do the math, it's you know you still have room to to bring more.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:57

Okay. Um, you know, your catering business, we know you from what you've told us, you know, you you handled Villa Montez and wanted to take care of the foundation first, and then as you got comfortable, probably made relationships with other people that could serve and work, you you got into the catering, right? Yes, sir. How would you describe you know your catering business, say from 2010 to where we are today?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:24

It has grown quite a bit. Um you know, when we first started doing the caterings, we were we were doing a group of 50, uh, a group of 150, and then those 150 grew to 300, and um now uh you know we're able to do large, large groups. Um we we actually I I think I was telling you this earlier, we begged and we asked that we got cattle barons, and and they they were a little skeptical, uh of course in the beginning for all the right reasons. You know, you don't want to take an event like cattle barons where people pay uh a big ticket uh to to get in there and then somebody drops the ball or and so they finally gave us an opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:15

Um Did y'all get food and liquor, the bars? Just the food. Okay, just the food. Sometimes you have both, don't you?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:21

We've always actually when I when we started doing the food, um I I asked for the bars, but there's another restaurant in town that that uh does the bars in Dakotas, as a matter of fact, great friends of ours, uh super people. And um so I had asked uh if we could do a specialty cocktail. And so that's why you see us doing uh a bar because we've done a specialty cocktail for the event.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:49

Okay, so you're not actually serving freestyle drinks. It's they're they're kind of a pre-selected, you know, we're gonna have a ranch water, we're gonna have a margarita we're at.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:00

Yeah, one year we did a uh what we called a roadside refresher. Um they wanted to use uh Jack Daniels, I think uh I don't know if they had some kind of sponsorship through through Jack. Um, but we did a a roadside refresher and and that seems to be one of the more popular ones through the years that did really well.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:19

I mean, does the liquor uh license does it does it move with your catering business so when you go out, you know, to these events that you can do that? Is that how that actually functions? Correct. Um you know you've got to Is that the same with a taco wagon?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:35

You've gotta spend yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:37

I mean, like somebody said, Hey, I want I want you to bring everything. You know, I want this to be a good time for my people. I want them to eat, be able to have drink some beer, some margaritas, whatever. You could bring it all.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:47

And it's a certain license you've got to apply for to be able to move with you in the state of Texas. Um and so, you know, for those of us that that um get in the business, you you've got to make sure it's the right license.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:03

But I mean, I'm sure you've done that since you've been doing this. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:06

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

Um You know, I don't think people think enough about that, about how you could bring the function to themselves, right? With these mobile, you know, liquor license, food. I mean, you've got everything but the music coming over. I guess we could call Las Chicas and bring them in.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:25

That's right. That's right. She mattered, she just did an an event for us. Um you know, as far as the the license and I was telling you, you know, we can we can talk about so much of the equipment that we're able to drag out. I mean, to be able to bring a tap system already in a trailer, already in a refrigerated unit, and park out in the middle of a horse ranch and and serve tacos and serve steaks and and serve beer and we can customize it and serve margaritas out of it. It's there's a there's a lot to be said about a unit like that that'll give you that freedom, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:00

I've thought of just talking to you, of bringing you uh to my new office when it opens or something for something, or even just for my employees. I mean, you know, just as kind of a a treat or something different. And so I'm glad we've explored that because I I mean I really thought of the catering more as just, you know, you had mistletoe and magic or you had something and and you you've got something way broader than that, it sounds like we can get pretty creative.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:27

Um and a lot of times uh, you know, you you're just you're just uh a mile away from expan an expansion and you just gotta keep continue to keep thinking of how we can do things better.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:41

Aaron Powell I mean you guys have always since 1836 seemed to have thought expansion because you know there was the the foray into White House, which I know you've sold that, right? Correct. Um but there's also, you know, you guys are associated with humo. Humo, I'm not sure. I'm probably pronouncing it wrong.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:01

You did you did just fine. I I you would say humo, I'll say humo.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:05

Okay, humo. Um it's isn't it ironic that you're in the spot of the remnant of El Charo's, right? El Charo on the Ridge. Correct. You know, which comes from El Charo, and we go all the way back to Irwin and old El Charo and the new one that was torn down for a car wreck, and now you know Manny's is kind of the last piece of that, right? Um that's kind of like the old Tyler people's Mexican food, wouldn't you say? I would say so.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:35

I mean it just seems like I think you're right. Um course Manny's doing a good job down there with his restaurant. Um how far do they go back?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:44

I I keep hearing like the mid-30s. You know, I think the the original parents, you know, go way back, like in the 30s when they opened up that old El Charos. Because you it's kind of like you guys as brothers if you want to look at it that way. Imagine Mr. and Mrs. El Charo, but it was uh Ramirez. The Ramirez family. That's right. The Ramirez open up on East Irwin, which is basically out of town. It's very and it's yeah. It's kind of like you and Carlos did at Villa Montez to get their start. Correct. And then moved into Fifth Street at one point, you know, when they had that one. Um but that always like Tyler people, you'd never see them going to Mercado. Right. I mean, they always or at least the old Tyler. Right. People that were here in the 70s and the eight early 80s. It was El Chiro always. And and they were used to go into, you know, L Charos or something like it, as opposed to, you know, the other kinds.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:40

Um You know, um JB Smith uh for a long time had had uh asked Munille, he goes, You need the old El Charo building, like let's let's re let's redo that one and and bring it It's been for sale. He said well he says it's it's been part of Tyler since Tyler was born, pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:59

No, I know, and the price has gone down. I've been watching it.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:02

Have you?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:03

It started at over a million, it's now three hundred and twenty-five thousand for that entire acre, one point something property and that building. Wow. Now the building probably needs to be demolished or at least save the facade. You know what I'm saying? Most likely. I keep w thinking somebody out of pure nostalgia is gonna buy that building. For the old days, right? Maybe we need to call J B right now. Yeah. I don't know. J B is uh more of a talker than a man of action.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:30

I didn't say that.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:31

No, I can say it to him because he's been on the show and uh he's a great guy. But you know, so how how do we uh how do we separate Umo in its cuisine and its menu from the other two restaurants, if we can um I think um with UMO, um Carlos' wife, Chelli, um, comes from a family of restaurants, uh very successful.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:58

I mentioned to you, Mr. Manuel Morales, which uh my brother and I are both extremely thankful for the opportunities he gave us. That's her father. That's her father. And Cheli is actually a fantastic cook herself. And so I think that it's a natural fit, huh? It was a natural fit for them to get in there and as a matter of fact, if you go there you see uh Maria's chicken and you see Chelli sauce, and so uh a lot of that has her infusion uh into it. Um and uh the fact that we always thought that Tyler needed something a little more leaning more on the Mexican side of things, uh I think that's what you'll get there. You'll you'll get uh a little uh harder feel of of uh the Mexican cuisine.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:50

Closer to more authentic Mexican food. Correct. All right. Now a restaurant, when you think of a restaurant, you can't help but think about running a restaurant and uh the challenges of employees, training. How is that for you guys? I mean, you know, getting people to show up, younger people that maybe aren't as uh inclined to work ethic as your father.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:12

Right, right. Um it it does become a challenge uh a lot of uh a lot of uh the time. But something that has really helped my brother and I is we have surrounded ourselves with a really hardcore group of people um that do have those values and do have that work ethic and do actually need that job. Um and because of that core group, we're able to instill that into the others that are coming in, the young, the young guns that are coming in, and and uh so it's not just Carlos and I trying to, you know, talk behind their ear and say, hey, you gotta pick it up. It's that core that core group, uh when they when they see the youngins uh you know not doing what they're supposed to, they'll they'll speak up. Um so it helps to have that kind of a crew. And even like our catering department, you know, which which we have our own specific staff members for that so that we're not trying to steal a bar.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:20

Well, you can't rob from the restaurant every time you get a catering gig. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:23

Because otherwise you'd be you weaken one to strengthen the other. Um so it goes all the way down to uh or all the way up, however you want to look at it, to our catering department. Very hardcore group of of ladies that keep that unit running. And we can have a catering of 500 people, for instance. As long as we have that core group there, you can send me 20 new ones, and those 10 uh seasoned ones are gonna keep the machine running smooth.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:57

If somebody watching this uh and wants to have, you know, any catering of large to small um to taco wagon, how would they reach out uh to you guys to find themselves, you know, to a caterer to talk to about what they might want?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:14

A couple different ways. They can call me directly, 903-363-411.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:21

Do you care or do you want us to put that phone number up in the show? Sure. After, you know, in case somebody watches this and they didn't catch that number and they you know, I mean, I don't want to get you out there now uh where you're getting calls all the time.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:36

But Chad, what if what if I had to hand this over to a full-time employee if because of your show, man?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:42

Well, you know what I'm saying. I mean, I want it to be easier for people who are saying, you know what, I just never think this is possible to have this at my house or my business.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:50

The other uh the other option would be reservations at VMontes.com, or they can email Mundo at VMontes.com, Carlos at VMontes.com.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:02

And just type in the email what they're looking for, what they'd like to have. Correct. Somebody'll call back. All right. So you've kind of got the two restaurants set up pretty well with, you know, it look sounds like Carlos's wife is heavy into Umo. You've got the catering. Any plans for future expansion, uh a project of something something different, you know?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:25

The opportunities have come our way, and and we've uh we've held back. Okay. We almost pulled the trigger on something recently. Um Is it a secret or breaking news? It's uh no, it's a secret because it didn't happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:41

Um but could it give me a window into the mind of Carlos and uh Mundo as to what it was?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:49

Well, Carlos loves one of his favorite foods is is pizza. Okay. But um he's he's he's always wanted to have uh a spot like that. And uh like I said, opportunities have come our way from pizzas or Mexican pizza or what? He he's he's a he's an authentic uh pure pizza. Uh of course the menu would be you know let's not talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:20

Okay, but well uh only because we know we know pizzas are popular because what we've seen is lost pizza coming into Berkfield Center, and we've seen Pizza Ranch filling in for uh Gaddies over there, right in the Okay. Yeah. So I mean, but again, I don't know what Lost Pizza is gonna be, but there is no real authentic pizza place that I know of.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:44

Well, and and the idea would be to do the pizza with a full bar. Um, you know, uh there there's there's a need for that. Um Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:54

I mean, you know, CC's Pizza and All the Crying Kids is really not for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:01

And I don't want the arcade either. Exactly. But um no, we've we've had to be very uh careful, very thoughtful. And if the right opportunity came our way, uh uh the stars would have to line up. We're not we're getting older and we're not trying to get ourselves in a situation we can't get out of things at this part of our life.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:25

Aaron Ross Powell And to me, I'm not familiar with this, but the one thing that I say that uh is hard sometimes are leases, long-term leases. When you're trying something and you know uh the strip center, the landlord is pulling for you, you know, they don't all work out, so it's tough to even make a move if you say I've got to sign a five-year lease, I would think.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:48

Oh, it's tough.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:50

And with the pricing uh entirely triple nine and all this, all these greedy landlords, I'm just gonna say it, okay? I'm just gonna say it. I can't believe what they make tenants pay for just to lease some space.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:04

It's a tough going right now. You see a lot of places paying, you know, 20, 30 grand a month.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:11

That's all the tacos that have got to get sold and all the enchiladas before you buy yourself a glass of water. Or pay an employee. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:21

Um It's uh but you know, it's it's the other side of the business that that as a business owner you have to make sure that everything's gonna line up.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:31

That's what's good about the catering.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:33

The catering we don't have a uh brick and mortar to come out of.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:37

Well, you know, uh the the beautiful thing about the catering is that most of your cost is already the lights are already on. Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:47

Uh you're working out of that kitchen over at 1836.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:50

Most of the employees, you know, uh are are already in the clock. But you know, you there's still quite a bit uh that goes into it uh besides the the rent already being paid, the the lights already be on. Uh you you for a big event, you've got to bring in the extra help and the ones that are there uh are less all of a sudden working on overtime because they're maxed out on time already. But yeah, it's uh it's just uh it's a chemistry, you just gotta make it all work.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:20

Well, you guys, y'all have been making it work. Um you know, the other thing that we that we really haven't talked about that, you know, is kind of the elephant in the room is that you and Carlos and your your your parents, they are Hispanic, right? Correct. Um and their connection with some part of the community uh uh is different than some of the people watching this show. Do you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:47

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:47

I mean, you have relationships, you have understandings, you have history um that not all of us have with some of the people that are here, uh, that work here and contribute here each and every day, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:19:03

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:04

Um, you know, I saw you, and this is when I called you. Uh I saw you at that press conference in November 2025, where you know, there was a reaction to uh what was happening with the uh the task force model.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:19

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:20

And it was what was funny, not really funny, but interesting, was you had, you know, home builders, hotel owners, you know, you had a lot of people that were not Hispanic that were, you know, trying to get an understanding or a handle on uh what we were about to m get into, right? Because people were panicking. Correct. Did you feel any of that panic um with people that you knew uh or people in your orbit in any way uh, you know, that caused you to have concern?

SPEAKER_01 1:19:58

One of the things that that my brother and I um talked about when all this was happening is whatever you as the owner expresses and starts letting out, and if you start throwing out the fear and the panic, well it's only natural that your staff will be feared and panic. And um and and even to the point where you just have to sit back and say, look, guys, it it's happening. We can it's not something that that's gonna go away. If you don't have anything to fear, quit panicking.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:39

I mean, I was talking to people that were born here because I mean that's a bit well, I mean, I think the you know the task force model is unfortunate for Smith County, uh, in my opinion. Um it's not present in Longview. There's only four or five um entities, I think, that's even elected the task force model, right? Everything predominantly stayed with the jail model, which meant if somebody was arrested for a crime and they had an ice detainer hold, then they were dealt with at the jail, right? Correct. And that kind of kept, you know, uh that was a natural scoop. If you were a bad criminal, chances are you were gonna end up in jail and you were gonna get scooped up. Correct. But, you know, um I don't know why we signed on because my research says that the municipalities didn't even have to declare or sign anything till December of this year. And so um I'm happy, and I know you are, that it seems like there's you know, cooler heads have prevailed and there's been a calming down period after November. Do you feel like that's happened? I feel so.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:48

Um I I f I feel that that things are probably not back to normal, but um I see that people are are getting out a little more. They're a little more there's a a great place I'd love to visit in the mornings um out on uh Beckham, uh Panaderia Nuevo Leon. And that place was Empty Packed every day, right? Yeah. And when all this started happening, I felt terrible for them. So I actually started going more to support them.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:20

Yeah, you're support the restaurant. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:22

Um and so yeah, uh I loved to see that that that this the people are are living their lives. You know, no way to live uh, you know, locked up in somebody's room.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:36

Well, I mean, and that's you know I mean if people are honest, which you know, I don't know that we can count on politicians to be extremely honest or you know, at least sincerely honest, because their reaction is to the most, you know, strident part of their party, either side, left or right, right? But I mean, you know, people from Mexico, ever since I can remember, have generally been kind of quietly invited here without any repercussions or enforcement, right? And when you do that for 30 years, I mean, uh it's not like people are thinking that they shouldn't do it, right? Especially when the jobs and the hotels in Las Vegas and every place else in the country is uh happily bringing them in and hiring them because they because we need them, right? I mean, I I did a show with Nancy Rangell. It's like, you know, Hispanics, family oriented, hardworking, it's like uh, you know, w why wouldn't you want people here that way? Um And I know all of this puts you in a difficult position, which is what I hate the most, uh, is that people can't have opinions, but they can't really express them. Um if those opinions uh uh may offend other people, may hurt business, you know, it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a fine line for you to walk. In it, Mundo. Do you feel it? It really is. Um you don't want to uh you love this country, you love Tyler, Texas, right? But you at the same time, you know and love people that work hard, that have no ill intention for anything, right? And this is trying times.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:19

You know, it is it is these are trying times for sure. Um I just I I guess that I f I feel such love for our staff whether whether you've been with me for six months or twenty years, right? Um there's a connection that comes in the trust and and and it's just it's sad to see them fearing, okay? Yeah. And again, some of them that were fearing, I'm like so did you uh last I saw you're you're a US citizen, man. But it's interesting because like I told you earlier, like if we show them fear and we show them the the the the panic, then everybody but because they panic between each other, then some of them start to feel that same friction. Um but those I think those that that that have worked with us like one of the b best advice we've been able to give them and then and and and let them know is like if you fear if you don't if you don't owe this country something or or a reason for you to get locked up you you shouldn't be scared. You shouldn't be afraid. You know, it's the people that the way I understood it is is the people that owe this country a visit to the court system that are getting snatched up, right? That are getting taken in. Along the way, I'm sure that the people that that uh the good hardworking people that that that's what they do is show up for work on time and and give us an awesome day with worth of work. Um they may be caught caught up in in something or wrong place, wrong time.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:13

Yeah, it's something that's that will likely not ever happen to me. Right? I'll never accidentally get caught up with extra family members or right. I mean, I can't say that I know how that feels, right? Because I know that's not gonna happen to me, right? And that's not true for probably uh people that you you know and you're close to. Right? Amen. Um Well, you know, I think Texas and Mexico have a special relationship that should be looked at differently, you know, than say if I was living in Maine and there were 60,000 people that just showed up from the world. Right? Yeah. I mean, I just think that's a different situation than than the way Texas uh its economy and the way things have always worked. You know what I'm saying? No, I I get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:03

Um But you know, all that being said, um I I hate to see what's happening in Mexico right now because that only reassures people that they want to get up here. Yeah. Right? I mean, well, and and that just it reassures what our government is doing right now to to uh enforce these laws.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:26

Um I mean, I don't want to be You don't want to be shook down, you don't want to be threatened, you don't want you don't want corruption in this country to be like corruption maybe in Mexico. Right. Right. And it's uh the Mortilla, you know, everything, right? That mortida will get you every time you're right. You gotta you gotta pay to move, right? To do anything. Yeah. Uh we don't want that here. And I think I think the fear of some of that coming here over the last several years may have, you know, driven us to this point politically. Don't you think that has something to do with that? do with it. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:01

Um in the end, you know, it was it was coming sooner or later, I think. Don't you?

SPEAKER_00 1:28:07

Well I think whenever something bad happens, generally people look for the scapegoat, the cause, the reason, whatever. People debate about what that might be, right? But I mean I do think that, you know, with no objection to people immigrating here at all, that is me, that a completely open border, if you're going to be honest, could be very dangerous to national security, uh if not threatening to institutions like schools, hospitals if it's not managed properly. I agree. Right? I mean 100%. I mean um I think the politicians are all of them are to blame because, you know, the Congress has done nothing to deal with DACA. Right? Kids that have been here essentially their whole life and don't know anything other than America, they've done nothing to except have them pay a four hundred dollar fee every four years to reapply. They've done nothing to um find a pathway forward for the people who are business owners, contributors, employing people I mean right?

SPEAKER_01 1:29:12

I mean there hadn't been any law that I know of and that's where we're where we're lacking a little bit um you know you mentioned well a lot or a lot or a lot. But you know you mentioned DACA you know I I know so many uh kids that have worked for me I'm sure you do and it's sad to to see it not going anywhere um productive with them you know or for them. So but yeah there's um I've said it before you know people that have been here not just DACA but people that have been here doing the right things all along people that own their own homes.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:52

They could lose ground accidentally if you know and all of a sudden things are crumbling.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:57

So that's that's the scary part I think for so many.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:00

I mean a day with about out a person from Mexico in the Texas economy, you know, what does that look like right? I mean does does anything even move you know I mean I loved I love to think about that when people say th things that they say that I think are born out of fear and not really thinking about what they're saying. You know and I know it's not funny to you but I know you have to believe that's got to be true. No there's there's a lot of truth to that um you know um I I mean I don't I have not seen many crews in the housing industry for most of the trades that are not Hispanic.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:40

There's a lot of talented people out there in in those fields and um you'd hate to see the values of of homes go go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:52

And the and the wait times to get them built go way right it's I know we're getting off into this but you're a you're a Hispanic business owner with roots from Mexico. I know this is you know uh was difficult for you because you were at the press conference which is what started my conversation with you about this right I mean you stepped forward to comment very respectfully it seemed to be asking people to think about what they are doing. I mean was that your intention? That was um so it so moved me an immovable object but that I called you didn't I you did and I said hey man and it was a screaming kid in the background I was like what in the world but I just called you I just said hey man I just really was moved by what you said there and uh I appreciate that phone call it it uh it it meant a lot to me coming from coming from you Chad for sure right because uh if I was in your shoes I don't know what I would do I would hope I did what you did which is if I the roles were completely reversed. My family members extended some of them are not legal some of them their paperwork's not good. I've got a good business going am I going to say anything or not? Right? And you did. And I think that speaks to who you are why so many people love you and Tyler and why I'm so thankful you came on the show today. Thanks for being here. Thank you so much appreciate you having me