Tacos and Burgers Gonzalez specializes in both in Exeter

EXETER - Jesus Gonzalez has been in the food business just about his entire life, and his wife and children have been helping him every step of the way.

So when a location near downtown Exeter came available, Gonzalez felt this was the perfect time to open his first dine-in restaurant. Tacos and Burgers Gonzalez recently had its grand opening and the reception to the Michoacan and Nayarit inspired food has been positive.

“I wanted to open this restaurant to give this community great service and fresh food,” Gonzalez said in spanish. “My wife is a great cook and her food has great seasoning. Any type of food, she knows how to make it. She makes menudo, birria, shrimp cocktail and ceviche.”There is much more to the menu, including hamburgers, but Gonzalez said it is fair to say that his restaurant prides itself on selling the turf-inspired foods of Michoacan like menudo and birria, and the surf-inspired foods of Nayarit like shrimp cocktail, ceviche, and aguachile.

“All of our lives, we have sold food,” Gonzalez said. “Food has always helped our family and people love eating what we sell.”

Gonzalez said the food he has sold most since immigrating to the United States has been tamales. He said he regularly sold 80 dozen tamales on a given day and on Saturday he has sold up to 230 dozen tamales. When the holidays roll around, he expects to bring those tasty tamales made of pork, chicken, cheese and chile verde to Exeter.

Gonzalez first immigrated to the United States in 1992. He lived in Exeter for several years where his children attended elementary school. He has also lived in Woodlake, Visalia and now resides in Ivanhoe. After 13 years of living in the United States, Gonzalez and his family made the move back to Mexico in 2005. Just two years later, the Gonzalezes were back in the United States ready to sell their Mexican Cuisine.

In the short time Tacos and Burgers Gonzalez has been open, business has been good. Jesus’ son Jose Gonzalez said he remembers growing up just down the street from the restaurant’s location near the Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church in Exeter. A lot of the people he grew up with are still there and have been supportive and have stopped by the business.

“When my parents came back here, a lot of people knew them,” Jose said. “They have been showing up and supporting. It’s been really nice.”

Food service is a family business. The Gonzalez family has a catering business, they deliver food, and they own ice cream trucks that drive around Woodlake, Ivanhoe and Visalia. Jose owns two of those food trucks that sell Blue Bunny Ice Cream. Jose also recently opened a food truck called Joe’s FrappCakes, which specializes in selling mini pancakes, crepes, frappuccinos and lemonade.

Jose tried going a different direction in his career but realized he was born to serve food.

“I wanted to be like a normal person and get a job, but it wasn’t for me,” he said. “I was struggling, living in low-income apartments, and I went back to what my dad showed me. “I knew how to cook. I went back to what my parents showed me and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

The inspiration for Joes’ FrappCakes can be attributed to Jose’s wife.

“My wife likes spending a lot of money on that stuff,” Jose said. “I thought, I can make this stuff on the weekend and sell it. “They always want the fraps, crepes and I said, ‘you know what, I can do this’ and that’s how that got started.”

Joe’s FrappCakes can be found around Woodlake, Visalia and Ivanhoe. He also does events and is available for catering.

Jesus Gonzalez has four sons, three daughters and the family keeps growing with grandchildren. He said he was proud of all his children, who continue to be involved in the food industry.

And when people come to Tacos and Burgers Gonzalez, they can expect a family-type atmosphere with good service and great food.

“I tell the people this. ‘You’re going to come to a very clean restaurant with really good food that is made fresh,’” Jesus said. “For us, we pride ourselves on cleanliness and freshly made food that is delicious.”

Information

Tacos and Burgers Gonzalez is at 141 S. Filbert St. in Exeter. Orders to go are available by calling (559) 946-4540 or (559) 798-4623. Joe’s FrappCakes is available for bookings. Call (559) 786-3369 for information.

This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Tacos and Burgers Gonzalez specializes in both in Exeter