Family, community, and a sense of belonging — three essential ingredients that came together nearly four decades ago – led to the opening of a restaurant that has now become a family legacy. Three generations of the Avila family have nurtured their business and nourished their community for 38 years.
For the first time, they share the story of their family and Avila’s Mexican Restaurant.
Their story begins in a small enclave of Dallas known as Little Mexico, a center for the Mexican-American community in the area that reached its peak during the 1950s and 1960s. It was where Mexican-born Octavio Avila Sr. met his wife Anita and where the couple chose to raise their children.
On a small lot at 4714 Maple Avenue, the family invested in a modest home for themselves. Octavio Sr. worked at his shoe repair business nearby, and Anita worked in her beauty shop, which the couple built in front of the family home. Martinez grocery, owned by Anita’s parents, was just a few blocks away.
When he wasn’t in school, little Octavio Jr. would spend many happy hours at his grandparents’ store, helping his grandmother cook and his grandfather serve customers. He remembers making fresh chorizo with his grandfather and taking lunchmeat orders, feeling a sense of pride in being allowed to use the deli slicer.
“Every Friday night, the neighbors brought their little pots and pans. My grandma made menudo, a Mexican delicacy made with beef tripe, on Saturdays. She would make 150-175 pounds of menudo for Sunday morning, and she would get up at 5:00 a.m. to start filling the pots for the line of eager people waiting outside,” recalls Octavio Jr.
He may not have known it then, but Octavio Jr. was learning firsthand how good food and good service have a way of drawing people together.
Although Octavio Jr.’s mother, Anita, spent most of her time working as a beautician, she shared her parents’ talent for cooking. Octavio Jr. loved her Enchiladas Mexicana — corn tortillas dredged through chile ancho sauce, rolled with sharp cheddar, and garnished with a Jack cheese on the top. Another favorite was pan-fried tacos, consisting of a corn tortilla stuffed with ground beef, or chicken sauteed with spices and folded with a toothpick, then dropped and flash-fried in the fryer.
Anita seemed to be as well known for her talent in the kitchen as she was for her skill in the salon. Her beauty shop clients would often tell her that she should open her own restaurant. One of her biggest supporters was Michelle Ojeda, who owned the famous Ojeda restaurant on the same block of Maple Avenue.
Ms. Ojeda encouraged her to get into the restaurant business and offered to share recipes with her.
“My mother told me, ‘I have read her recipes. Mine are excellent,'” Octavio Jr. laughs.
When Octavio Jr. grew up, he found that he had the same entrepreneurial spirit as his family. But instead of taking over his father’s shoe repair business, Octavio Jr. decided to take a different route. He and his mother had talked about opening a restaurant for years, and she finally agreed to do it. Though his father was skeptical, Octavio Jr. was determined.
“I’ve got a very marketable product, and it will sell itself. It’ll put us on the map. And it’ll take us to the top,” he told his dad.
Octavio Sr. gave his blessing as well as the deed to the property at 4714 Maple Avenue to his son.
The house and beauty shop had been leveled in the early 80s, but the neighborhood felt like home to Octavio Jr. He built a small restaurant with room for five tables. His mother Anita did the cooking, and Octavio Jr. attended to the front of the house.
“When I opened the doors on December 23, 1985, I was between Ojeda’s and Rositas Mexican food. Everybody was worried, saying, ‘Man, you’ve got five tables; you’re in between restaurants that are 15 to 20 years in the business.’ And I said, ‘You know, I’m not really worried about it. What I am doing right now is trying to put out the best product possible.”
To keep Avila’s Mexican Restaurant afloat, Octavio Jr. received help from his wife’s teaching salary and sometimes his mother’s social security check. He believed that he would be okay, especially with his mother, father, and sister helping him with the business. Octavio’s dad even pitched in as the dishwasher.
Over the years, the excellent food and personal service kept drawing the customers to the restaurant. The restaurant has since expanded to accommodate 25 tables, but it retains the same cozy, homey atmosphere. Momentos and family pictures adorn the bar, and sunlight filters through the large front windows. This is decidedly a Mom-and-Pop type restaurant, not a slick strip-mall cookie-cutter franchise.
Octavio’s father passed away in 2005. His mother eventually passed the recipes and the job of chief cook on to someone else, but she kept coming “home” to the restaurant each day until she was 89 years old. She passed away in 2014.
While Octavio still runs Avila’s Mexican Restaurant, he knows it will soon be the time to relinquish the family treasure to his daughter and grandchildren. His daughter Katherine Avila has been co-managing the restaurant for several years.
She helped navigate the restaurant through the COVID-19 lockdowns by establishing a food delivery service, which proved to be very successful. She has dreams of expansion, and her father approves.
One highlight for the restaurant was a visit in 2009 by Guy Fieri, host of the television show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. He proclaimed it to be one of the best restaurants in Dallas. Of course, Avila’s regular customers already knew that. Some of them have been patronizing the restaurant for more than 30 years.
Katherine credits the success of Avila’s to the consistency of the food and the service. Octavio has always focused his efforts on giving his customers personal attention.
As a member of the third generation of Avilas to work in the restaurant, Katherine intends to maintain the recipes, values, and traditions that have been at the heart of the family business for so many years.
“My parents were just getting older,” says Katherine. “I thought, you know, this is where I’m supposed to be. Customer service is my thing. The restaurant is near and dear to my heart, I’m so proud of it, and it’s my legacy.”
