Mexican Restaurant in Placentia, CARestaurante mexicano en Placentia, CA

Same family, same counter, 25 years. We open at 7am and we cook Mexican and American food side by side — chilaquiles next to pancakes, carne asada next to a quarter-pound burger — because that's what this neighborhood actually eats.La misma familia, el mismo mostrador, 25 años. Abrimos a las 7am y cocinamos comida mexicana y americana lado a lado — chilaquiles junto a los pancakes, carne asada junto a una hamburguesa de un cuarto de libra — porque eso es lo que de verdad se come en este barrio.

The same kitchen loads the taco cart. When you see us at a quinceañera, a school lot or a company yard, it's the same people cooking, just outdoors.La misma cocina carga el carrito de tacos. Cuando nos ves en una quinceañera, en el estacionamiento de una escuela o en el patio de una empresa, es la misma gente cocinando, solo que al aire libre.

The B is for Benito, the C for Calixtro. Those first years were brutal, and Calixtro went on to start his own gardening business — then another C stepped in: Chuy. For years he and Benito worked around a second job at a steakhouse down the road, Chuy cleaning it at dawn and on our griddle by lunch, Benito opening up here and heading there in the afternoon.