Dining Out: A new entrepreneur opens El Tapatio in Simsbury

Daniel Rodriguez has been working in his family’s restaurants since he was 18. Now he has opened his own business.

Written by Natalie K. Pollock staff writer 

Photography by Natalie K. Pollock

Daniel Rodriguez, owner and chef of El Tapatio in Simsbury, began his restaurant career as a dishwasher in his family’s collection of restaurants, all named Puerto Vallarta. In 1999 the West Hartford location was the first of nine to open in Connecticut.

Rodriguez worked his way up in all the restaurants except the newest one in Stamford. He spent 11 years in Southington and 7 in Avon. The rest are located in Newington, Middletown, Orange, Danbury and Fairfield. Just a year ago he opened El Tapatio on his own, in the Simsburytown Shops at 928 Hopmeadow Street.

El Tapatio describes a person or thing from Guadalajara. His family originates from that area in Mexico and began opening restaurants in the states of Washington, Oregon and Colorado upon their arrival in the United States. Young Rodriguez began working in the business in California, and graduated from dishwasher to cook, then went to North Carolina to help his cousin for four years. 

He is now 47 years old and lives in Tariffville. In 1991 he became a father for the first time.

The chef offers specials that are added to the extensive menu.

“The West Hartford restaurant was really busy, and they had to find people. I moved from North Carolina in 2000 and became a server in West Hartford. I cooked in Guadalajara and I cook here. The recipes are from my mother that she cooked at home. But I had to experiment with them to make larger quantities. I tested them, giving them a modern twist, and they needed a balance of garlic and pepper,” said Rodriguez.

He had worked as a cook at Puerto Vallarta in Guadalajara, earning a lot of experience with adjusting the recipes to large groups of diners and their specific tastes.

“I worked in all the Puerto Vallarta locations except the newest one, and I tasted all the food. Sometimes the chef did not put love in his food. I can taste that. I cook every day with love here. When you like your job, you do that. Some kids now don’t love their job – they work for the money,” he said.

His son Juan, 27, works with him at El Tapatio as a server and bartender. Rodriguez also has a younger daughter in Mexico who comes to visit 2 or 3 times a year, and she helps.

“She loves the restaurant business and loves customer service. These days there is no respect for how to treat people. There are not many people helping customers,” said Rodriguez.

Before his meal preparations begin, he sometimes looks out his front large windows to see people coming and going in the busy shopping center. He has helped a homeless man he sees often, and one day he ran out to help a man in a wheelchair who had tipped over trying to get out of a car. 

Rodriguez also regularly participates in fundraisers to support the town’s schools.

“That’s how I was taught by my father, to give something back to my customers and regular people,” he said.

El Tapatio has become a dinner destination for Simsbury residents in just a year. Rodriguez points out that his business attracts a mix of customers, both Spanish and not Spanish. There is not a very large community of people who are Spanish in the immediate area. Some come from as far as Massachusetts.

“The restaurant business is hard. It takes 100 percent of your life. The new generations get their food online. Take out helps us a lot. We are a small place with just 36 seats including the bar. I have had 40 people eating here and have also catered for 150 at the Ethel Walker School. I don’t want to compete with others. Everyone has their own style. People say our food is more contemporary and fresher,” said Rodriguez. 

One of the most labor-intensive preparations is the famous mole sauce. El Tapatio offers two dishes made with it – mole poblano (chicken) and carnitas de puerco (pork) and mole. His recipe, which reflects his mother’s but he has made it his own, includes chocolate, bread, tortillas, almonds, crushed pumpkin seeds, dried chili peppers and spices. It cooks for three hours. He makes a new batch twice a week and reheats each portion as needed.

Tula tacos are made with steak and topped with cabbage and mango pico de gallo.

Q. What is the most popular dish at your restaurant?

A. Tacos of all kinds, quesadilla (everyone likes it) and burritos. I eat holding a burrito in my hand while working. I have no time to enjoy it.

Q. What is your personal favorite dish at El Tapatio?

A. The Birria Tacos which have slow-cooked beef stew topped with cilantro and onion and served with Spanish rice and refried beans.

Q. What should everyone know how to make?

A. Carne asada (skirt steak with rice and beans and pico de gallo) – that’s what I would make for my dinners at home. People make it for big parties in Mexico. It’s a thinner steak cooked on the grill served with white beans and hot sauce and tortillas. I adjust the cumin and other spices. I don’t use too many spices because then you can find all the flavors. For example, you want to taste the beans and not the garlic with them.

Rodriguez loves his location in Simsbury “because people here are friendly.

Friends see each other here and sometimes they share a table. My customers are all local so I do not (have to) advertise.” VL El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant, 928 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury 860-217-1148 www.ElTapatioCT.com 

Slow cooked braised pork, called carnitas de puerco, are crisped by frying and served with rice and beans.

Birria tacos, the chef’s personal favorite, are filled with a slow-cooked beef stew, topped with cilantro and onion, and served with rice and beans.

El Tapatio in the Simsburytown Shops attracts customers from long distances.