profile | ramiro’s cantina
BY M I C H A E L L . J O N E S | P H OTO G R A P H Y BY DA N D RY
amiro Gandara is the legal owner of Ramiro’s Cantina, but he’s not always sure his mother sees it that way. Ernestina Escajeda can be forgiven if she’s just a little possessive of the restaurant at 2350 Frankfort Ave. After all, the 70year-old designed the menu, cooks most of the food when she’s around, and has even been known to greet and seat guests, even though she speaks very little English. Gandara just wishes his mother, who is supposed to be retired, would learn to relax a little more and trust him and their capable staff. “She doesn’t think the restaurant runs right if she is not here,” he said. “She went to Texas for a two-week vacation, and she was calling every day to see how the restaurant was doing. She lives half a mile away, so even when she is not supposed to be here, she’ll go into the kitchen and do a few things and then she’ll sit at a table and drink her coffee.” Gandara is grateful for all his mother does because even with a staff of 26 (38 in the summer when the spacious patio is open), he needs all the help he can get. His wife, Christine, one of his sisters, and the two oldest of his four children also work at Ramiro’s Cantina. That is because the business is more than a brick-andmortar restaurant. It also houses a thriving catering service that had its best year ever in 2016, a food stand that does up to 30 shows a year at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds and two food trucks that are usually booked between March and October.
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(pictured) Ernestina Escajeda
22 Spring 2017 www.foodanddine.com