Ever since our food truck story many moons ago, we at rooted enjoy perusing our food truck options. Aileen was cruising the South First Street pod a while back when she came across 5 Salsas. The combination of good food accompanied by interesting people sold her, and a relationship was forged. This week, we asked Vania and Jose Zuno to #ROOTCAM their 5 Salsas experience for us.
I was born and raised in the Yakima Valley, my husband, Jose on the other hand, moved into the valley only 4 years ago. Since then, he has worked in a variety of restaurants from The Porch in Ellensburg to Cowiche Canyon Kitchen here in Yakima. He had mentioned before that he wanted to someday own his own business, but the idea seemed far-fetched to me. While he was in between jobs, struggling to find a place that was the right fit, he came across a food truck for sale. He came to me and told me he wanted to buy the truck and start a business. I told him he was crazy; we were not in a good place financially. He insisted and excitedly told me, “we could name it 5 Salsas and make tacos!” I thought he was joking, but he kept talking about his idea and was so inspired. At this point I knew he wasn’t joking and I said “ok, let’s do it.” We jumped into a business we didn’t know much about, but we had passion.
So almost 2 years ago we started our business with our family recipes, always fresh ingredients, and quality food. Our focus is tacos with 3 types of meat—carne asada, adobada, and birria. We also serve tortas, quesadillas, and mulitas, and as our business grows we hope to expand our menu. What separates us from the rest is our salsas. We have, obviously, 5 salsas, all named after family members and include: La Perrona (The Awesome One), De La Tia (Aunt’s salsa), De la Abuelita (Grandma’s salsa), De la Suegra (Mother-in-law’s salsa), and De Mi Vieja (Wifey’s salsa). These salsa’s pay tribute to the people who gave us the recipes. Our family has been our number one supporter in helping us get started and we have also gotten the chance to work with a lot of local businesses and breweries who have helped us get to where we are today. We continue to grow and hope this eventually allows us to open up a restaurant.
5 Salsas is located at 2105 S 1st Street in Yakima.
This is a wonderful story. Very inspiring and the photography is is fabulous. I hope 5 Salsas has continued success and is able to grow. I will make a point to stop and eat there whenever passing through between Seattle and Walla Walla. What are your hours are you open?
Thank you so much Donna! We appreciate your support and good wishes. We are open Tuesday through Friday 11-5. Follow us on Facebook for more details!