Eva Saavedra
Owner of El Huarache Azteca

The idea for Eva Saavedra’s authentic Aztec food restaurant happened organically, but once the ball was rolling the restaurant happened because of Eva’s vision and perseverance. In 1991, a friend invited her to sell food during soccer games and her food became treasured snack for bystanders. During this time Eva was also working in a factory, pregnant and had two small children to look after. In her factory job, her cooking skills became well-known and co-workers started to ask her to bring in food for the meals they shared. The popularity of her food did not stop at the workplace; on weekends friends would appear at her home for meals. When these impromptu parties got to big to manage, Eva decided to charge money and organize a restaurant in her garage. “I tell my friends that food preparation is not all of running a business, you need the courage to achieve what you want.” It was with her delicious food and courage that Eva opened the doors to El Huarache Azteca in 2001.

Once Eva began her garage restaurant, she needed access to business resources available in the United States and needed to know fundamentals like finding space to lease and getting a business license. She took a number of business workshops before her brother recommended an organization he had heard about – ALAS, the Women’s Initiative business training program taught in Spanish. At ALAS Eva got the training she needed to make the restaurant thrive and received a loan to expand the restaurant.

Today Eva employs thirteen people, including many family members in the kitchen and restaurant. Eva has been able to save money to purchase a house because of the success of her business. Eva is committed to helping her community and her family. Eva and her family-operated business help a local soccer team, ALAS and at Christmas they give free food to the community.

See reviews for El Huarache Azteca online at kqed.org and visit them at 3842 International Blvd. (Oakland).

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