Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa, Miriam and Elizabeth Martinez.
Melissa, Miriam and Elizabeth, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Our parents started a small catering business in 2009 just for friends and family. As the years passed by, friends and family recommended us to more people and we began to accept more catering requests. Without realizing how and when we started serving more than 1200 guests per month through catering events. The three of us, instead of going our own ways, decided to make a commitment to continue running the small family business; without thinking what would come next. Despite going to school and having another job, the three of us worked hard on this adventure. In 2016 we decided to open a small takeaway restaurant. It was located in the south central and two years later we opened our restaurant in Mar Vista. We have put our effort, time, sweat and heart to create what we have now. Having a place where we can offer fresh, delicious, quality, and authentic food is a dream. Being able to offer food that represents our culture and allowing guests to explore the Oaxacan cuisine is fascinating. A simple “mmm” expression from a guest is more than enough to know that our hard work has paid off. Today we know that we want to expand and grow as a company and offer more to the community.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No way! The restaurant industry is hard work, especially when it is starting off as a family business. This means intense physical work, critical decision making, sacrificing time and personal goals, and learning to manage the different aspects of owning a restaurant such as-menus, scheduling, selecting team staff, running font and back of the house, recipes, accounting , customer service, and the list goes on. As beginners, we have been forced to quickly learn to develop strong communication skills, open-mindedness, time management, and most importantly, focus on creating and cultivating a first-class brand and a favorable reputation that allows us to grow and compete within the restaurant industry. We have had a lot of tough moments, but we have learned that it is a process and we learn new things everyday.
Our biggest individual challenges:
Elizabeth: maturing
Carmen: risking our health because running a business is stressful and hard on the body
Hector: having to risk everything and start the business without (intentionally) thinking of negative consequences
Miriam: showing up EVERYDAY to Quiadaiyn, 100% mentally and physically
Melissa: Understanding and dealing with people of different mentalities and having had to impose rules and examples to create the system that we now have.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Quiadaiyn Restaurant story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a full-service restaurant. We will soon be serving alcoholic beverages. We focus on Oaxacan food. We make all our dishes from scratch including our corn tortillas. We import products from Oaxaca to ensure that we stay as authentic as possible. We have begun the process of bottling our top-selling Mole Negro Sauce and salsas.
We are proud of the positive feedback from guests. We have unexpectedly accumulated 5 stars on Yelp. We are also proud of all the loyal customers that have become regulars. We are proud to open everyday and have the ability to offer delicious food to the community.
Our customer service is superb. Our energetic attitudes transmit positive vibes and we have noticed guests appreciate it.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
We are lucky to be a family of five because we can always count on each other for anything and everything.
Owning the restaurant is no luck, it is something we have sacrificed and worked hard for, it is an achievement and a motivation for us to keep expanding and giving back. We wouldn’t change a thing.
Contact Info:
- Address: 12326 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90066 - Website: quiadaiyn.com
- Phone: 3103137654
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quiadaiyn/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/quiadaiyn/about/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/quiadaiyn
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/quiadaiyn-restaurant-los-angeles
Image Credit:
Elizabeth Martinez, Axel Rivera
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