Today we’d like to introduce you to Angel Cabrera.
Hi Angel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up, my mother sold tacos from our small apartment for over twenty-five years. This was her way of providing for my siblings and me, while also eventually paying for my college education. Ever since my early childhood, I would see how hard my mother would work to make ends meet—and I would always dream of one day opening her own restaurant. After graduating college, I ended up waiting tables at Barnaby’s Café for ten years. During these ten years, I began to save money while brainstorming how I would make this childhood dream of mine come true. After talking about this dream of mine to all my friends and family for years, I finally summoned the courage, in 2019, to begin this project. I found it only ideal that I should begin looking for the location of the restaurant in the heart of Spring Branch – where my mother resides and where I grew up. The place didn’t look like much, but it was all I could afford, and I was determined to make it happen and make it our own. After nearly a stressful year of converting the leasing space from retail-to-restaurant, we finally received the “okay” to open amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Around this time, there were so many businesses closing, and naturally, we began to worry because we had all poured our sweat and tears (as well as fully exhausting my savings) into making this restaurant become a reality.
Despite all obstacles, we didn’t allow anything to stop us from moving forward and making Tacos Doña Lena what it is today. We are beyond grateful for all the support and success that we have met these past two years, and we look forward to continuing to work hard and providing some of the best authentic Mexican food in Houston.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of my biggest struggles was met when I made the grave mistake of hiring multiple and variegated contractors while converting my business space from retail to restaurant. As I was at the mere forefront of my business endeavors; I was left without much choice but to seek out and hire the most affordable and economically sound contractors. What I learned the hard way was that the cost-to-build ratio proved more costly over time by hiring borderline, semi-professional contractors. In the long run, I ended up spending more of my income to compensate for the mediocre and subpar work done initially. In retrospect, I would have done better research, and would have also carried out a more thorough investigation revolving around the building process of a restaurant. I could have avoided multiple scams and would have spent the extra income to hire credible, professional contractors that get the job done correctly the first time.
Since we opened during the COVID-19 pandemic, people were being laid off and seemingly afraid to go to work. It became a real struggle to hire people that stuck around to keep the restaurant moving. It proved extremely difficult at times to run the restaurant as the business rapidly grew while being short staffed. There were times when we had no staff, but the family stuck together and pulled through against all odds.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Tacos Dona Lena is a Mexican Restaurant that serves to provide delicious, authentic, and homemade Mexican food. By offering sixteen different meat options (three of those being meatless) and six different salsas, all while using Dona Lena’s (Angel’s mother’s) recipes/ingredients, we bring a small piece and flavor of Guanajuato, Mexico to the city of Houston, TX for all your Mexican cravings.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
In the next five to ten years I hope to have a second (maybe third and fourth) location to continue to provide some of the best, authentic Mexican food in the city of Houston. More so, I would like for my mother’s story to be shared so that the essence of Tacos Doña Lena serves as an example that hopefully inspires, shows, and helps others on how to pursue and follow their own path on the journey toward their own goals and dreams.
Contact Info:
- Email: Tacosdonalena@gmail.com
- Website: www.donalenatacos.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/tacosdonalena
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tacosdonalena
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/ZIUyKxuxXob
Image Credits
Angel Cabrera
Tacos Dona Lena
