“Taquitos”: same truck, new flavors for Penn Ave.

Story by Andrew McKeon, The Bulletin

ABOVE: Ray Quintanar (left) serves lunchtime customers from the “Taquitos” food truck at N. Winebiddle St. and Penn Ave. After waiting all year for good weather, Quintanar and his son, Fernando, brought the truck back to Garfield in March to unveil their new look and vegetarian-friendly menu. Read “Neighborhood Focus” on page 8 of the May Bulletin to learn more. Photo by John Colombo.

Garfield – The “Taquitos” food truck and its new paint job – which catches one’s gaze at the corner of N. Winebiddle St. and Penn Ave. – is not just a run-of-the-mill food truck, and its origin story is anything but ordinary.
When Ray Quintanar, his wife Elizabeth, and their son Fernando emigrated from Mexico in 2000, it was because Ray needed to undergo eye surgery that could not be performed in his native country.
The Quintanars ended up in New Jersey, where Ray’s grandmother lived, for the duration of his medical procedure. As Fernando recalled, “By the time my father was done with the surgery and recovery, we had already been in America for two full years. So it was kind of like, ‘we’re already here, so what do we do now?’”
Nearly two decades later, the Quintanar family is running its own mobile eatery in Pittsburgh. Ray opened up the taco truck last year with his uncle, Edgar Alvarez of “Taco Loco” and “Edgar’s Best Tacos” fame. While operating the truck under his uncle’s well-recognized brand for one season, Ray was able to get to know the local foot traffic and gather feedback on menu items before he re-branded the truck, complete with a whole new menu and paint job, for 2018.
When not stationed at its regular post in Garfield, the truck is set up for shop at various events and festivals throughout the city. Over the last year, while they have been learning how to drive the kitchen rig around town, Ray and Fernando have also been learning how drive more sales in a saturated market. “There are so many food trucks in the city and a lot of the trucks are almost the same thing,” Fernando said. “There’s a lot of taco trucks, so we try to be different.”
The driving force behind their new menu, which features more variety and lower prices, is a shift from six-inch to four-inch tortillas. Hence, the new name, “Taquitos”; the term refers to both a rolled, fried tortilla and also a mere “small taco” – both of which are available at the truck.
“A $3 taco is reasonable for some people, but not for me. I can usually eat six tacos at a time, so that price is too high for us,” Fernando explained. “When we went with a different tortilla size, it changed up the whole concept to help us offer lower prices.”
During an Apr. 21 food truck round-up in Millvale, Fernando and his father served over 500 hungry customers. Although the everyday numbers at their normal spot on Penn Ave. are not usually as robust, the Quintanars credit Garfield and its lunchtime palette for enhancing their business strategies.
“We first started going up to Penn Ave. with the truck on First Fridays. Then, as we became more popular and customers began asking for more, we decided to rent the lot [at N. Winebiddle St. and Penn Ave.] and it just picked from there,” Fernando explained. “Since then, our menu has changed dramatically because, in the Garfield neighborhood, we serve a lot of vegetarians and people who want to try new things.”
Last year’s menu featured primarily meat options but, after a winter sojourn to Elizabeth’s hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, Ray and his son set out to bring the region’s rustic flavors and classic, meatless dishes to Garfield.
“One of the biggest surprises this year is how much people love the nopales, a cactus salad,” Fernando said. “A lot of people are now tasting it for the first time and loving it.”
As he opens up the taco truck window every morning, Fernando understands the greater importance of his family’s work. “We’re opening a window for people to try what’s outside of their comfort zones,” he noted.
Eventually, the Quintanars will open up their full concept of “Rincon Mexicano,” a little Mexican corner market featuring a dessert truck (think: “churros” and “tres leches”) and a stage for musical performers. “We want to provide an area where people can just come relax outside while they learn about Mexican culture,” Fernando said. “The best way to do that is through food.”
Most customers were not comfortable with the truck’s new look when they saw it for the first time this year. “At first, people thought we were a different truck and they got a little angry. So, we explained, ‘It’s the same truck. It just keeps getting better,’ Fernando said. “Our truck is just like the community here in Garfield. The past was rough, but everybody’s adjusting very well to the changes. We are, too, as we try to give back to our new community.”

Friendship Perk & Brew unlocks new potential

Story by Andrew McKeon, the Bulletin

ABOVE: Nick Redondo (right) enjoys a “Kodak moment” with friends and family at his new eatery, Friendship Perk & Brew (300 S. Pacific Ave.). Photo by Andrew McKeon.

Friendship – A few decades ago, when Nick Redondo worked for US Air, Pittsburgh’s one-way departures far outnumbered its new arrivals.

And now that his hometown has become a destination city, Redondo thinks residents old and new are thirsty for change – and for coffee and beer. His approach to quenching this new thirst: “Friendship Perk & Brew.”

Punctuated by old, black & white photographs, with a fireplace to take the chill out of a cold winter morning, the neighborhood eatery captures the high-contrast history of its namesake while also accommodating new palettes and tastes. Patrons can order a craft beer just as easily as they would a cup of coffee – or enjoy a variety of hot sandwiches, appetizers, and gelato.

Redondo and his sister/co-founder, Joanne, curated the store’s atmosphere and menu by simply polling their neighbors.

“I’ve been soliciting my neighbors, asking them what they’d like to see or eat here. They’ve had a lot of input,” he said. “Even the folks who were opposed to it…once they finally come in and see what we’ve done with the place, they’re impressed and they keep coming back.”

Friendship Perk & Brew feels like a hub of old and new energies situated at 300 S. Pacific Ave. In the months since he opened up shop in September, Redondo has reconnected with a number of old friends and made many new acquaintances.

“When you go into a Starbuck’s, it’s all about Starbucks. Here, it’s about the neighbors,” he explained. “Nothing against Starbucks. I mean, they’ve been much more successful than I have, so I’ve got to give them credit.”

Redondo is fond of relaying local histories, telling the stories behind the street signs; mere minutes into a conversation with the Bulletin, he went “full oracle” and detailed a list of famous Friendship residents and local landmarks.

Zoned for commerce ever since it was constructed in the 1920s, the Perk & Brew building remains an outlier in the residential neighborhood of Friendship. Growing up across the street, Redondo spent his days hunting for pop bottles in the alley; returning enough bottles earned him candy or toys from the neighborhood store.

He even got his first job there, sweeping floors as a kid. So, it comes as no surprise that he chose to staff his eatery with area residents.

The building, which has been in Redondo’s family for decades, once housed a 7-11, and was most recently operated as a convenience store that sold six packs of beer. Upon meeting with angry neighbors and representatives from local community groups, who viewed the store as a “nuisance bar,” Redondo decided not to renew the previous tenant’s lease. “I wasn’t happy with the way it was being run,” he said. “A convenience store just didn’t suit the needs of our neighbors.”

While the first-time entrepreneur endeavored to cut through all the red tape involved in rehabilitating an old structure for modern commercial use, the property laid fallow for years. Now that Redondo has unlocked its potential, he is figuring out how to turn the eatery into a valuable community asset.

The ideas often come to him in serendipitous ways – like when a West Penn Hospital employee stops by for a chat and, as a result, Redondo has begun looking at hosting an indoor Bocce tournament at his establishment.

Mike Pochan, who met Redondo in 1977 (when they were freshman at Carnegie Mellon University), did not reconnect with his college chum until recently, when they bumped into each other at Friendship Perk & Brew.

Now, Pochan regularly drives in from the suburbs to loaf on S. Pacific Ave. He feels very comfortable there: “If it’s too snowy outside to drive home, or if it’s too late and I’m tired, I could always just sleep on that couch over there. Right, Nick?”

Redondo said he does not worry when Pittsburghers move away to other neighborhoods and cities because he knows that they will be back. And, when they return, new places like the Perk & Brew will remind them of home.

“What it’s about is community,” Redondo said. “It’s about Friendship.” The Friendship Perk & Brew is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; and 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.