Our story is like any other. It began with a dream. My mother always dreamed of having her family together. My father, like the majority of adult men in rural Mexico in the 1960’s, was a brasero (migrate worker). He came to the States and returned to Mexico several times until one day in 1970 he immigrated to California with the entire family of ten.
At first, my family worked as crop chasers from the Coachella Valley to Sacramento CA. Regardless of how hard a job was, my mother and older siblings were always working besides my father. They picked strawberries, peaches, walnuts and worked at what ever job was available. They worked from dawn to sunset and never complained. My mother was always sure that one day we would have our own house. In 1972 my older brother started working in a factory in Orange County and we settled in Placentia. My older sisters and father were also employed in local factories. In early 1973 we were able to buy our house.
In 1974, my father, with no business experience, bought the restaurant. It had been closed for a couple of years and my father thought it would be nice to open a restaurant and have all the family involved. My mother’s dream came true. We had our grand opening on May 10th, her mother’s day gift. She had all her family working together. My father decided to name it El Farolito, which meant to him the light of hope. That light of hope that later became our success.
40 years have passed since that day and we are still working together. My mother says she can’t ever thank God enough. Today 17 of the 30 plus employees are family members. My son of age 18 is the youngest employee and works on the weekends. The majority of my family lives just around the corner from the restaurant. Some people ask us what is the secret of our restaurant's success. Simple, every day we eat at the restaurant, making sure that everything is as it should be. I call it quality control. My mother calls it a blessing.
