Conversations with Jonathan Rios

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Rios.

Hi Jonathan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
It all began with the idea of bringing TJ to LA #bringingtjtola. My father always had the drive to own a business. Since I was a kid, I remember we’d take trips to TJ and we would always enjoy the delicious food México has to offer. Especially those Tacos everyone talks about when they visit Tijuana. My father Fily aka “Don Cuco” has a good friend of 33+ years that is a master of the taco business. My dad was inspired by his success and after years of debating his friend helped him out. Not only did he provide us with the special seasoning but he sent us with one of the best taqueros (El Wero) in Tijuana and nowhere in Los Angeles. My dad took his chances and here we are. Three years in with Tacos Don Cuco. These three years have been filled with blessings. Aside from the era that we live in and how social media is a big factor of our growth, I feel that the best part of being in this business is the amazing people that continue to support us. We are nobody without our amazing team and our amazing customers.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been an easy road. I can make a long list of all the challenges we’ve experienced. One of the main struggles we’ve faced at the beginning when we first began our journey would be the financial aspect. The initial investment to buy our food truck while selling in the heart of East LA. We knew that it was going to be a challenge due to all the other taco pop ups that surround us within a mile radius. Also, the struggle of learning the ropes to running a business. It hasn’t been easy especially after the pandemic hit. We shut down for three months. I don’t think anybody was ready for this. But overall, one thing I can say is that all the struggles and challenges have taught us lessons along the way and have made us stronger.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have multiple roles in running Tacos Don Cuco. Aside from being a taquero, which I had to learn the skills of what it takes to make that perfect taco, I’m grateful to have the best teacher! Wero has been a great asset. He has taught us pretty much everything we needed to run a successful Taco business. I’m also in charge of running our social media, our Instagram @tacosdoncuco.tj, which has grown to 37.3k followers. That has opened doors of opportunities. It has given us the opportunity to cater events for famous people in the Latin music industry. We feel very blessed to be in a position to offer work to 90+ people. This is just the beginning, my dad and I continue to stretch our vision and talk about future expansions.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
One of the most important characteristics I feel you must obtain is the quality to have good people skills. We thrive to maintain great customer service. We are here because of our customers and we always make it a point to express our appreciation through our social media. We also like to do giveaways and give back to our community.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/tacosdoncuco.tj?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tacos-Don-Cuco-Estilo-Tijuana-1858339657581504/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tacosdoncuco?s=11