VICTORIA
Qiling Wang/Victoria Advocate
Customers have lunch at Ventura’s Tamales, a second generation family-owned Mexican restaurant in Victoria.
VENTURA’S TAMALES FILLS CUSTOMERS WITH CONTENTMENT BY JON WILCOX jwilcox@vicad.com
Qiling Wang/Victoria Advocate
Beef tacos are popular among customers at Ventura’s Tamales. The Beef Taco Wednesday special offers beef tacos for $1.29 each. 24
DISCOVER 2018
At Ventura’s Tamales, customers are family, and a hearty meal is medicine for the soul. “It makes you feel good. It’s just something you enjoy,” said Susan Martinez, 57, who co-owns Ventura’s Tamales with her sister, Martha Vasquez, 56. “It brings people together,” Vasquez said. Since 1985, the sisters have served tacos with homemade shells, their namesake tamales, enchiladas drenched in melted queso and other authentic Mexican fare reminiscent of meals at abuelita’s house. In fact, the restaurant traces its roots to the sisters’ since-passed mother, Ventura L. Gutierrez, who began making and selling tamales out of a Victoria gas station on North Street in the 1980s. The sisters said they inherited their passion for feeding
families from Gutierrez, who they described as quiet, outspoken and hardworking. “We look for that wow factor in food,” Martinez said. “We have a passion for our business,” Vasquez said, adding, “I think it comes from my mother.” But decades later, the matriarch’s recipes feed not only her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren but also countless devoted customers who have grown to adore the restaurant’s menu. “We’ve raised a lot of kids on rice and beans,” Vasquez said. During most lunchtimes and dinners, the drive-thru line wraps around the building, and customers pack the expansive dining area, which contains a full bar. Even on cold and rainy days when many other restaurants languish, the business’s kitchen is usually going at full throttle. Nevertheless, the
