Meet Stephanie Gonzalez of Gonzalez Restaurant

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Gonzalez.

Hi Stephanie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My father Ricardo started a taco catering back in 2009, my twin sister Kimberly and I, Stephanie Gonzalez were 14 years old when we first started in the food/business industry. As a taco catering, we started to get booked for more and more events weekly, to the point where we would divide our team to three in order to complete the events.

One of the most important events we ever catered was the Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti 2013 campaign. In July 09, 2017 was the first day of our soft opening of Gonzalez Restaurant in the city of Orange. We were two 21 years old who had no idea how to run a business or knew the type of stress we would had as a small business. As many business starters, everything goes in the wrong direction no matter how perfect you try to be… I would say the first year we opened was the most difficult, complicated, and heartbreaking year. It got to the point where we would have maintenance issues on a daily basis – either a fridge would stop working and wouldn’t freeze to the products being thrown out as the freezer wouldn’t cool. A heartbreaking moment was when one day, our sales of a 12-hour shift was $7.53. Not to mention, you don’t get the support you thought you would get from family members and friends, we had to start as a random restaurant that nobody knew about and especially being in a plaza that is hidden with no traffic. I started promoting our restaurant on Facebook and Instagram, thankfully we started to get customers by Yelp.

On July 2021, we will make four years now since we’ve been opened… with every struggle, stress, and personal issue it has not been easy to say the least. Since we first opened, we have always given back to our community, we have had successful events such as giving away free meals to our customers and community, back to school supplies, Halloween trick or treat, Toy drive, mothers day giveaway, and our next event is Easter basket giveaway on March. We work all seven days with long hours to accomplish our goal as a small business owner especially being first-generation Mexican Americans… One of our many hard-working accomplishments have been, in 2018 Brad Johnson published an article about one of our famous tacos Cochinita Pibil, we were recently featured on Yelp OC Instagram profile, in 2020 we won first place for Taste of Orange best food award, and couple weeks ago we were filmed for an episode of Orange Chamber travels. Finally, having this opportunity to have an interview with Voyage LA will be a huge stepping stone for us, as it gives us motivation to keep doing what we do and no matter how difficult situations can be, there is a reason why not to give up.

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?
On July 2021, we will make four years since we’ve opened, and it hasn’t been easy. We have struggled to remain open and especially since the pandemic started. The first year was the hardest for us, we had maintenance issues on a daily basis with fridges, freezers, plumbing issues, overflooded sewer, food going to waste or going bad since we wouldn’t get any orders to go or dine in customers. Our main struggle as many other small business owners would be money, having to pay the rent on time, along with all the other utility bills that come along the way like electricity, cable, Wi-Fi, payroll, weekly inventory, taxes, IRS, State Board, Health Department, Beer License, and insurance, etc.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Gonzalez Restaurant?
Gonzalez Restaurant is a family-owned business, all our recipes is made and created by my mother who works around the schedule everyday to make sure everything is fresh and delicious. We specialize in authentic Mexican Food, we get Mole Poblano imported from Puebla, Mexico. Pambazo which is our traditional specialty that comes from the Cuidad de Mexico, a pambazo is a Torta that is dipped in red enchilada sauce filled with potatoes and Mexican sausage stuffed with lettuce, sour cream, and queso fresco. Another specialty is Cochinita Pibil Taco, this taco is originated from Yucatan Peninsula. I believe what sets us apart from other small business Mexican Owners is the different types of food we make, the way we treat our customers as if they are family members and as if they are eating their meal at home. Not to mention, we are constantly giving back to our community in any way or form as a thank you for the constant support they had given us throughout the years. Any little or big accomplishment we’ve always been proud of, but if I had to pick one I would say is being awarded for Taste of Orange “best food” award, since we were up against 46 other restaurant businesses that are well known or have been in business industry for over 50 years.

We are just two first generations of Mexican American twin sisters trying to accomplish our parent’s dream of owning a Mexican Restaurant, despite the struggles we remain strong and always remind ourselves that it will be easier one day and maybe one day we will be able to retire our parents. We would like to welcome the readers to visit our restaurant in the city of Orange and to try our authentic Mexican food, that may be unique to others since they are some items that not many people have tried or heard about. And also to know that we are always looking for extra help and accepting any type of donations for our events or just partnering up to help those in need.

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?
Since the pandemic had started, we have always remained open either for take out and delivery and when indoor/outdoor dining is allowed. No matter if we were struggling to stay open, we never let our employees without a job or taken hours away, we had to get a loan in order to keep our employees to remain working since we cared about their financial situation and especially having to take care of their families and providing food and having a roof over their head. We recently started accepting EBT “Cash Benefits” and I believe this is something important as not a lot of restaurants accept EBT and customers are seeking for help.

Contact Info:

• Email: gonzalezsrestaurant@mail.com
• Website: https://gonzalezrestaurants.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gonzalezsrestaurant
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gonzalezsrestaurant1
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/gonzalezs-restaurant-orange-2

Image Credits:
Pattie Cordova