BIENVENIDOS
WELCOME

Lola was born the sixth of ten children in Durango, Mexico. As a little girl, Lola would sit at the kitchen
table and watch as her mother would fill the air with the aroma of the day’s dinner and fresh corn
tortillas. She would often play by building a small stove out of mud and a piece of tin that resembled the
wood burning Adobe stove that sat in the family kitchen, and recreate the meals her mother would
make.
Some of her favorite memories from childhood were during La Semana Santa. The Holy Week. During
this time, the whole town would fire up their adobe ovens and prepare some of their finest foods. The
smells of capirotada, chile rellenos, enchiladas, and an assortment of guisados would engulf the small
town of Pedro Celestino Negrete.
At the age of ten, Lola, along with her mother and five of her siblings, emigrated to southern California
where they reunited with her father and the rest of the Garcia children. In the Los Angeles suburb of
Baldwin Park, Lola found herself immersed in a new world; an intricate mosaic of cultures and foods.
After graduating high school, Lola, still holding on to the hopes of going to college, started working at a
garment factory where she met her husband, Ismael. After marrying, the pair moved to Tampico. A gulf
town in Tamaulipas, Mexico where Lola was introduced to a new type of cuisine based on seafood as
well as foods from the Huasteca region of Mexico. Foods like zacaguil, tamales huastecos, shark
empanadas, and a variety of street foods. After two years, Lola and Ismael returned to California where
they had their four children. When her husband was elected president of the local little league, Lola was
put in charge of the concession stand. With her daily specials flying out of the small kitchen, Lola realized
it didn’t matter what was going on around her. Seeing people enjoying her cooking made her happy and
helped her find a sense of belonging. She had found her calling.
In 2007, Lola and Ismael packed their kids and their belongings and moved to San Antonio with the
hopes of starting a business. With her kids still growing up, however, Lola’s dream had to wait a little
longer. In 2010, with her daughter off to college, and the three boys busy with high school, Lola decided
it was time to focus a little more on her passion and was accepted into The Culinary Institute of America
where she earned her degree in culinary arts. Upon graduating in 2013, Lola found herself working at a
fine dining restaurant along the San Antonio River walk. In March of 2020, Lola became one the millions
laid off as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Not one to give up easily, Lola decided it was time to
finally make her dream a reality and open her business.
Born out of necessity and a lifelong dream, with the endless support of Ismael and their children, Lola’s
dream became just that. “El Sueño de Lola”