WEBB CITY, Mo. — Food trucks are part of communities nationwide. The Four State area is no different.
But how does a food truck make the jump to a brick-and-mortar restaurant?
“We started under a tent, and we work ourselves to a food truck and now we have a brick and mortar,” said Marcos Renteria, owner of Ghetto Tacos Food Truck & Restaurant.
That food tent began in 2016.
And in 2017, that beloved “Ghetto Tacos” food truck was born, which turned into the full-on restaurant, opening on July 13th, 2022 – almost a year ago now.
But for Renteria, his passion for authentic Mexican cuisine started about 12 years ago, as his family is originally from Mexico.
“I love tacos, I love food, and different recipes, and different kinds of food, and I just kind of fell in love more with my culture’s food, and so we just kind of put the family recipes together,” said Renteria.
Renteria knew he wanted to make that jump to becoming a restaurant but knew he had to wait for the right time.
“For us, where we knew we had to, we need a brick and mortar, is a lot of people are driving from Tulsa, Arkansas, Springfield, Kansas City. And we were getting all these people like, ‘Where you at?'” said Renteria.
And it was at that point that the Renterias knew it was time to take on that risk.
“And I said, ‘You know what, we’re getting a lot of these calls,’ and the time was just right, you know, everything takes time, and I just kind of felt like it was the right time,” said Renteria.
And they attribute the successful transition to creating realistic goals, constant engagement with the local community, and of course, those authentic family recipes.
“And I would share this with other businesses that, you know, don’t be scared. Risk it. You’ll be surprised,” said Renteria.
And the owners have let us in on a secret – they tell us to keep an eye on their social media for an announcement in the next month.
It has to do with the owners’ next venture.
Visit their Facebook page by clicking on this link.
