Stephanie Figueroa: There was a void for many of us who were the first generation that came from immigrant parents from El Salvador, and we didn't see ourselves. Yes, that's our food, that's our culture, but we're born here. A pupusa is a corned filled, thick tortilla filled with stuffing of your choice. I grew up with my grandma selling Salvadorian food out of a cart in a very popular spot called Eliborio here in Los Angeles.
Juan Saravia: My grandma and Sam's grandma were biggest influences on us. Pushing forward to get started, we started expanding before we knew we were going into a lockdown.
Stephanie Figueroa: Covid came, everything changed. He was getting up at three, four in the morning to try to look for supplies.
Juan Saravia: We had taken out square loans beforehand, just here and there to help out with certain expenses because we were doing our expansion. We took another loan out and we paid some of the city fees. We use our Square checking account to take care of our payroll, our taxes, different little expenses that come up here and there, and it's a great tool to help us streamline all of our financials. We always save for our taxes because how I grew up, understanding how taxes work, money, and my parents understand how to do that the correct way. We use the automated feature for our Square savings to help us navigate and put to aside the money that we need for those taxes and for those little expenses that come up. Square honestly helps you progress and become a better business.
Stephanie Figueroa: People still want to come and are excited to see us grow, so it helps us not give up. I literally tell my kids every day, we're here because of grandma. We thank you, grandma. We are creating generational wealth because of grandma. They started it and we're continuing and you're going to continue it.
Juan Saravia: We don't see it as the restaurant being a business. It's a family.
