Taco truck lessons: What we learned from our father

When I visited Taqueria Hoy in Orange, owner Rafael De Anda couldn’t wait to get home to watch Mexico kick off its World Cup stint. After decades at the helm of his taco shop — he first started it as a food truck and now has brick-and-mortar locations in Orange, Santa Ana and Anaheim — he could put his feet up and relax. The business was in good hands.

His sons, Raphael V. De Anda, 34, and Christian De Anda, 30, had been working at the taqueria since childhood. But when Rafael De Anda was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2011 and battling the disease, the young men took over the complete running of the business — with their father still an integral part.

While I get a lot of emails pitching stories for LAist, rarely does a story materialize from one of them. But when Raphael De Anda emailed me about Taqueria Hoy, including a video that captured the warmth of his and his brother’s relationship with their father, it quickly piqued my interest.

In it they are quick to praise him for his work ethic and the lessons he’s imparted to them. In honor of Father’s Day, we’re celebrating those lessons here.

Rafael De Anda makes tacos at his taqueria in Orange.

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Yusra Farzan

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LAist

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Lesson No. 1: Keep it simple and do it well

Rafael De Anda is from Arandas in Jalisco, and crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 1974. A few years into life in the Santa Ana area, he realized there was no good taqueria around, unless you drove to Los Angeles or San Diego. And so Taqueria De Anda was born in the 80s, before it was rebranded to Taqueria Hoy in 2020.

He says he wanted the tacos to taste just like the ones he used to have every day.  ”If you eat my tacos here, if you go to any part of Mexico, it will have to be the same,” he explained.

Taqueria Hoy has a straightforward menu, offering the usual carne asada, al pastor, pollo, chorizo and carnitas, along with cabeza (cheek) and lengua (tongue), the most tender cuts of beef.

Cabeza and carne asada tacos adorned with the Taqueria Hoy's green and red salsas.

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Yusra Farzan

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LAist

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Cooking the meats to perfection, he says, and keeping the quality consistently good keeps people keep coming back — sometimes spanning generations.

It's one of his first lessons for his sons: Keep it simple but do it well. “ If you're not gonna eat them, don't sell it.”

That philosophy even extends to their red and green Hoysioso salsas, made in-house with high quality ingredients.

Only three people in the world know the recipe — Rafael De Anda and his two sons. And the sons have promised to make the condiment just the way he taught them.

Lesson No. 2: Honor your customers and staff

“ We just started making tacos and that's it,” Rafael De Anda said, never expecting for the business to last more than forty years. "We were busy and then we just kept going and going.”

He and his sons credit that to their customer base. Some of them are the great grandsons of those first customers, according to Raphael De Anda.

 ”We're very grateful to the community that has accepted us and that has allowed us to continue to serve tacos for all these years,” he said.

Some of the workers at Taqueria Hoy have been with Rafael De Anda for decades.

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Yusra Farzan

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LAist

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That love for their customer base also extends to their workers. Some have been at the taco shop for decades. Raphael De Anda said his father was a father figure to many, including those who crossed the border when they were young. He’d nurture them and help them get settled in the United States.

“He didn't only have two boys. He had many, many children,” Raphael De Anda said.

Lesson No. 3: Trust your kids

Now I love my father, but I cannot imagine working directly alongside him. I'm open and friendly at work, the type of person who would bake cupcakes for my colleagues' kids. My dad, on the other hand, would never hang out with someone outside of the office. Two different generations, two very different upbringings. One was raised in a strict all-boys Catholic school in Sri Lanka, another in an international school in Sharjah, UAE.

But while Rafael De Anda had a very different upbringing to his sons — him in Jalisco, his sons as American-born citizens who went to Chapman University — he's been open to their ideas and approaches.

They have taken to social media, using Instagram to explain how taqueros make carne asada, show off their heart shaped takeout containers for Valentine’s Day, and share collaborative posts with influencers.

“ Their way of approaching the business has been a little switching to the modern culture,” Rafael De Anda said. “I like it, that's something that I would not be able to do, to be honest.”

He adds that he keeps a close eye on what they are doing. “And to be honest, I'm proud of them,” Rafael De Anda said, uttering the magical words every kid wants to hear from their immigrant parents.

Lesson No. 4: Life isn't complicated. We're the ones who complicate it

Raphael De Anda said his father has instilled in his brother and him the importance of focusing on the task at hand rather than worrying too much about the future.

 "Sometimes my brother and I will talk with my Dad. "Hey, what do the projections look like for this year?" he said. "My Dad's like "well, it doesn't really matter. As long as we take care of what we're doing now, things will work out."

And Raphael De Anda said it always does end up working out.

Lesson No. 5: I do what I can with what I am given

Their father was not one to live in the future, and neither did he spend time worrying, his sons said.

"Instead of saying, "Oh, woe is me. I wish I had more customers", Raphael De Anda said, his father would focus on the customers he had.

"How do we treat them the best we can?"

Growth happened organically. Their father found the Santa Ana location through a conversation with a regular customer who was selling his billiards shop.

"The owner said, "We care for you so much and your presence, you've meant so much to the community. We want to offer you to buy the building first," recounted Raphael De Anda.

And he did.

Lesson No. 6: Be honest with yourself before you can be honest with others

The sons grew up hearing their father reiterate the message of staying true and authentic.

" Don't change who you are for others and that mantra is also carried through in everything we do here at the restaurant," said Raphael De Anda.

Birria, for example, is a popular offering at taquerias across Southern California. But, it's not something on offer at Taqueria Hoy.

 "That's not who we are. We have to be honest that we are a taco and burrito makers first," Raphael De Anda said.

And the burritos at Taqueria Hoy are massive.

And for some parting wisdom from Rafael De Anda, "How do you eat a big burrito? One bite at a time."