Inspiring Conversations with Jose Heriberto Benavidez of El Charro Mexican Food

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Heriberto Benavidez

Jose Heriberto, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up in Westlake in the 90s wasn’t easy. My father ran a mobile grocery
truck, and would drive from neighborhood to neighborhood looking to make a
sale. By the time I was ten he’d saved enough to open a small grocery store of his own on 6th Street and Union Ave… where he has been for 25 years.

In November of 2010 I had the opportunity to open Mexican Food location right next
door to my family’s grocery store, and El Charro was born.

Since then, El Charro has been providing excellent food to the neighborhood and
beyond— catering on-site from Santa Clarita to Hemet and any city in between.
The past decade has seen us work with organizations including the Ronald
McDonald’s House Charity, La Verne University, Children’s Institute, Case del
Pueblo, Peace Over Violence, the Downey School District, Los Angeles Sheriff’s
Department, and Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

As of today we are catering anywhere from small birthdays, corporate events to memorable weddings.

Even during the pandemic, my first instinct was to find a way to build something
positive for the community we’ve grown in. We’ve taken the chance to fully
remodel and invest back into the neighborhood.

That’s not something too many other businesses in the area do, so it’s important that El Charro stands strong always being a clean, presentable place people can come eat, talk, and hang out.

Jose Heriberto Benavidez
El Charro, Los Angeles

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was hard to choose between pursuing my bachelor’s in accounting at Fullerton State College or start El Charro. I definitely made the right choice in my opinion. Of course it’s difficult because of the uncertainty.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We proudly serve great quality mexican food fast at our brick and mortar and throughout southern California in catering.

At El Charro we have experience managing events raging from 40 guest’s to 800 guest’s. These past 5 years we have grown our catering to make mexican food memorable at weddings through food and presentation.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
People love mexican food. Specially tasty and economically priced mexican food. I saw many restaurants in Downtown close do to their high overhead costs in rent, labor and inventory.

I sold my El Charro location in Downey right when Covid was starting in 2020. This is where I would run my catering business out of as well. I had to condense rather than expand. Best decision I made.

Took my catering business into my LA location and boomed there after.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Charromexicanfood.com
• Instagram: Elcharrotacos
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elcharrotacos/