Del Rio’s local taco dealer reflects on familial legacy, personal hardshipsBy Maddy Vidales
DEL RIO, TX – The Rivera children lay in the backseat of their parents’ car, windows covered with blankets to block the streetlights’ glow and hungry customers flooding in from Acuña, Mexico’s streets. Outside the vehicle, the Rivera parents hustle to sell tacos to passing patrons. By morning, the children were back in the United States for school – a routine that took a toll on their sleep schedule. “A teacher told our parents, ‘Hey, your kids are falling asleep in class,’” Jacinto Rivera IV said. “So, our parents decided to make the transition to the USA. My Dad worked three jobs and finally opened a little shack with a little stove.” Three decades later, Jacinto Rivera IV – known to many as “Chinto” – now owns and operates his family’s taco business, fittingly named Chinto’s, in Del Rio, Texas. “I slang tacos, sell tacos, make tacos,” Chinto said, “I make people happy with food.” Named after Chinto’s father, Jacinto Rivera III, the restaurant’s ambitious start initially raised concerns for the family’s well-being. Chinto and his brothers, except for one sibling, are from Del Rio. The Rivera family frequently crossed between Del Rio and Acuña to address the various needs of their livelihood. The porous border between the sister cities provides economic growth on one side as a means to fund one’s livelihood on the other. Individuals in these border towns may cross for healthcare, work, or school. Although traveling between the sister cities offered economic opportunities and lower living costs, the constant back-and-forth hindered the children’s education. Chinto’s father aspired to leverage his taco business to support his family. Listed for $200 per month, Chinto’s father eyed a street corner for a potential new spot for the taco business. “My mom said, ‘You better not even think about it! We gotta buy milk and we got to feed these little boys – we need that money,” Chinto said. “One day, my dad comes home with no paycheck. You can imagine my mother – she was furious. Two weeks later, my mom’s helping my dad.” After his parents started the business in 1985, Chinto stepped into the kitchen in 1995. “I’m the oldest son out of four, and I was always dragged around everywhere,” Chinto said. “It was like, ‘Hey, dishwasher didn’t show up. Wake up. Come wash dishes.’ I’m like, ‘Hey, man, I don’t want to wash dishes, I wanna watch ‘GI Joe.’” From dishwasher to prepper, he tended to the restaurant’s duties through various positions. Taking on different roles in the establishment trained him to know the restaurant’s ins and outs and ultimately prepared him for ownership, Chinto said. “I didn’t just start up here, you know,” Chinto said. “If I walk in and I see my cook doing something and I can tell that the recipe doesn’t look like it should, I can call that out compared to an owner that just started in the front and doesn’t know anything about the kitchen.” As customers enter the restaurant, Chinto is posted at the register as his oldest daughter out of seven children, Ariana Rivera, works the drive-thru window. Chinto shoots sly jokes Ariana’s way before being met with her side-eye glare. Chinto laughs to himself before returning to his duties. Ariana’s knowledge of the business has grown beyond her original duties of picking up the work of the waitress who quit before her, Chinto said, and may extend to ownership in the future. “She’s learning … maybe one day I’ll make a sticker with (her) face on it,” Chinto said, “I’ll put, ‘Chinto’s tóxica daughter.’” Initially, Ariana said she joined the business out of necessity but now appreciates the extra time with her father. Every morning, Ariana prepares coffee for her dad as he comes through the drive-thru while on his way to drop her siblings off at school. “It’s really cute,” Ariana said, “knowing he’s coming in and I have his coffee ready for him. It’s a bond and routine I already know.” Cherishing his time spent with and emotionally supporting his family are sentiments Chinto said are dearest to him, despite the lack thereof during his childhood. “I don’t want my kids to be like, ‘Dad was never there, he was always working’– my dad did that,” Chinto said. “I really love my job, but I still want my kids to know they have a father; they can talk to me.” “Back in my day, I couldn’t really talk to my dad,” Chinto added, “I was scared to talk to that guy – you know, like shaking in your shoes.” Accompanying various military patches and Mexican iconography that decorate the restaurant are autism pride posters and signs. Chinto religiously expresses his devotion to caring for his autistic son. “Being a parent to a special needs child is parenting on another level,” Chinto said. “God bless all these parents out there who have special needs children because you can’t see autism.” Recounting the events, Chinto said he arrived late to work that afternoon because he was tending to his son’s needs. Chinto spent a portion of his day driving around Del Rio, looking to purchase his son’s favorite meal: cheese ramen. Recognizing and acknowledging his son’s behavior is vital, and any negative reactions are intolerable, Chinto said. “It’s hard sometimes to go to a restaurant and then something triggers your son,” Chinto said. “All people see is a kid who’s just spoiled and people don’t realize that my son is having sensory overload. I’m the type of person that if you say something about my son – we’ll have a problem.” “I’m already a felon,” Chinto added, “I got nothing to lose.” There was a time before putting his family and business first. Chinto found himself devoting his energy to the wrong crowds – ultimately resulting in his conviction. “You surround yourself with people who don’t have any morals in life and you say, ‘I’m not going to go down that path,’” Chinto said. “But eventually, there’s going to be a time that you say, ‘The heck with it. I’m already here.’ That’s what happened to me – I ended up falling.” With no possibility of becoming a border patrol agent as originally intended, Chinto doubled down on his life’s projection and meaning, keeping his children in mind as he reformed his character. “Monkey see, monkey do,” Chinto said. “If your child sees you acting like a fool, they think, ‘Well, my parents are doing it. I guess it’s good. I guess it’s right, it’s OK.’” Since turning his life around, the cherished time with his wife and seven children is especially valued following the two open-heart surgeries Chinto underwent because of a valve disorder. However, the life-saving procedures Chinto received partially inspired his second-oldest daughter, Natalia Rivera, to pursue an education and become a doctor. “She’s (said), ‘I want to be a heart doctor to save other people’s lives how they saved your life, Dad,’” Chinto said. Still deciding what kind of practice she wants to pursue, Natalia will nonetheless start her education at Texas Tech in the fall. Natalia is entering this new chapter in her life EMT-certified. Now reformed, Chinto said he instills morals and cultural practices within his children to retain values he does not like seeing diminish. Notably, Chinto said he gave his children strong Latino names as a form of preserving the culture; no matter who they marry, their names remain. “We go to church every Sunday,” Chinto said. “I teach my kids right from wrong, (to) say, ‘Yes, sir. No, sir. Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am.’ All the little, small things that I feel like are going out the window, like, people disrespecting law enforcement.” Proclaiming his admiration for law enforcement and authoritative figures, Chinto said his admiration for Del Rio also derives from the diverse faces coming in via the Laughlin U.S. Air Force Base – located approximately 8 miles from the restaurant. “I’ve had people come here 20 years later and now they’re officers and they get a taco and they’re like, ‘Man! It’s just like I remembered,” Chinto said. “I haven’t changed the recipe, bro!” Remembering his family’s humble beginnings, Chinto said he always tries to extend a helping hand to those seeking employment – especially to those he sees himself in. A former waitress lived in Mexico and crossed into Del Rio daily to take her kids to school and work at the restaurant. For her, it was cheaper to live in Mexico with the income earned in the United States. “People are still doing it to this day,” Chinto said. “Still living over there and crossing every single day to come work. It’s not easy, but they’re doing it and they’re eligible to work over here.” Reflecting on his legacy, Chinto said he sometimes doubts his progress, wondering if he has done enough for the restaurant. Jokingly, Chinto poked fun at the lack of verbal validation Mexican parents express to their children. “You could be a doctor,” Chinto said, “and they’ll (parents) be like, ‘Look at that doctor, he has a billboard – you don’t have a billboard.’” However, Chinto’s success has finally been praised by the man who started it all: his now 78-year-old father. “He’s already finally come around – took him this long to finally be like, ‘Hey, son, you’re doing a good job,’” Chinto said. “I guess I gained his trust from working hard because I worked in the kitchen. The symbiotic relationship between Del Rio and Acuña enriches the Hispanic culture in the community, Chinto said, therefore solidifying strong values of comradery. “I don’t know if it’s just because our music and our food make us happy, but the care that we have for each other…” Chinto said with a prideful tone in his voice. “You will get a message from somebody that their house got burned up and, you know, we’ll help them. We will open our house to anyone, really.” Despite the sacrifices and hardships Chinto’s family faced during the restaurant’s creation, he said the payoff was all worth it in the end; Chinto’s own family now reap the benefits their relatives sowed. “I can’t be mad at them for creating this,” Chinto said. “As I (grew) older, I (saw) what they were doing, and I always went to bed with a belly full of food. They created this and it’s beautiful. It’s enough.” |
KWMC
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