- Written by AnaMaria Bech
- Published in Cover Story
Family Friendly El Paso
Family Friendly El Paso
By AnaMaria Bech
Click aqui para español- >El Paso Familiar
Jorge Oseguera and his family represent one of the many examples of perseverant immigrants, who, through their commitment to work, have managed to achieve their dreams.
After working for several years in the restaurant industry, Oseguera entered El Paso restaurant with the intention of becoming a partner. Born in Michoacan, Mexico, he moved to Florida, where he lived for several years and worked in various restaurants. He met his wife Maria from Venezuela while working at one of the restaurants and together they moved to their new home in Louisiana 11 years ago.
Both understood that Oseguera had a very clear dream of owning a business. That goal has been achieved with a partnership at El Paso, a chain of restaurants that has branches in six states in the U.S. “Everything in this life is like that. You put in your mind what you want, and you find what you need to accomplish it. In this case, what you need is to work hard, to save your money, so that you can offer money to invest as a partner in the business,” says Oseguera.
The El Paso Mandeville branch has a special meaning for Oseguera because his biggest investment is there - his family. His brother Jose and his sister-in-law Sugey run the restaurant, which opened its doors two years ago.
For many, working with the family may be difficult, but for Jorge, relying on their support is very helpful because he knows that they know what they are doing and because “they are good people.” The family philosophy works great at El Paso. “We respect the roles of each person, we support their decisions and autonomy as administrators,” comments Oseguera.
The other branches of El Paso do not have a brother in place to run it, but Oseguera prefers to treat all employees as if they were members of his own family. Despite being the boss, a word that he does not accept, Oseguera works long days and takes very few days off. His family understands that is sacrifice is for their own good, and although they try to spend time together, it is not something that happens every day. Maria works in the business and accompanies her husband on his long drives to branches throughout several states, which serves as a way to share some time together. “If we did not work together, I would barely see him,” Maria says.
El Paso Mandeville is growing quickly because the community has a very familiar atmosphere. The restaurant has a very loyal clientele, and some of the customers visit several times a week.
For Jose Oseguera, the brother who manages the restaurant, it is very special to get to know his customers. “We have generations of a family who come here together. You see the mom, the grandmother and the children. We have couples who meet religiously here on Friday afternoons and they already know their waiter. We love that people come here to celebrate their birthdays and we move our tables around to accommodate for large group celebrations,” Jose adds.
Supporting the communities surrounding the restaurants is very important for the owners of El Paso. They make donations to schools and support different community initiatives. “Just as we value the workers, we know that we cannot exist without the community,” reflects Oseguera.
The menu at El Paso offers a wide variety of Texmex dishes and typical dishes from various regions of Mexico, such as the Carne Asada and the seafood dishes. They have gained the Northshore’s clientele little by little, due to the quality of the food and their service. “Everything here is made from scratch. We have very good quality. All our meat, including our ground beef, is Black Angus and we use quality alcohol for our drinks,” adds Oseguera.
The meal recommended by the proud owner is the chilaquiles accompanied by a house organic margarita, but he makes sure to mention that they carry a great selection of red wines for the wine lovers. Daily specials such as Monday 2x1, Taco Tuesday and Happy Hour give you even more reasons to try the variety of the menu and the delicious Margaritas at El Paso, Mandeville.