Rene Valenzuela remembers the day McDonald's opened in his hometown of Monterrey, Mexico. It was only the second McDonald's in the country's history, and he had never seen such a buzz for a restaurant before. At least until now. The lastest branch of his Taco Bus is the Bay area's most anticipated restaurant in some time — and in St. Pete, that's saying something.
Valenzuela was keenly interested in cooking from the time he was a boy. At age 9, he sold tacos out of a cooler at the mercado after school. He was hooked from day one, "awakened" when he heard the compliments and noises of happy customers. While dabbling in hospitality school, he ran a small taco stand and catered to late-night revelers with a menu of only three items at the Centrito de la Del Valle market.
Later, Valenzuela worked in food sales and became a broker. In 1991, he came to the U.S., worked hard and saved money. He moved to Tampa in 1994 and sold tacos out of a small trailer at various sites.
In the meantime, he plotted his first restaurant, Taqueria Monterrey in Plant City. He knew it might be easy to serve bastardized food to a broad audience, but he would not compromise. "I'm a contrarian, I bring the food I like," he says. Valenzuela wanted to serve authentic Mexican street food.
He opened Taqueria Monterrey in 2002 and found it difficult to win over Mexican patrons, who had been burned by bad versions of Mexican food before. To get attention, he resorted to standing beside the road, shouting "Tacos! Burritos!", reasoning that Mexicans would be driving with their windows down. His wife thought he was crazy, but for Rene, there was no shame in promoting the food be loved. He also developed a butcher business there, supplying meat to other taquerias as well has his own.
His cousin Roberto Morfin made a name for himself at his restaurant El Taconazo, employing a kitchen housed in a bus. By 2007, Taconazo had become a beloved landmark in Seminole Heights and a place to get some of the best Mexican food in the Tampa Bay area. When Roberto and his wife, Monica, offered to sell Rene the Taco Bus, he leaped at the chance.
Valenzuela kept many of Roberto's recipes but changed other aspects of the business. He immediately started operating seven days a week instead of five. He expanded the menu, offering daily specials and tastier options for vegetarians and vegans. He also nixed the name, preferring to call it what his customers knew it as — "Taco Bus" — and trademarked the name.
In 2009, Valenzuela was ready to expand again, opening a Taqueria Monterrey near USF's Tampa campus. With a huge salsa and condiment bar, fresh corn tortillas, and an expanded menu of house-made chorizo, pork al pastor and other fillings, the new location brought all of the delights previously confined to his Plant City location. Local workers and students rushed in for lunch, filling the place daily. In 2010, he doubled the size of the restaurant to meet demand.
Valenzuela has hired 20 new employees for his St. Pete location at 2324 Central Ave., near Tropicana Field, and has 40 more employees in Tampa and Plant City. Instead of serving an all-Mexican clientele in Plant City, he's introducing people to the delights of Mexican street food all over the Bay area. "I'm lucky," he muses. "Some people do all the right things, but the market doesn't respond." Whether through his hard work, smart decisions or sheer luck, the market has certainly responded to Rene Valenzuela's growing taco empire.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2011.