Maria's Mexican Tacos restaurant opens, fulfilling emigrant's American dream

By Erin Gallup, Journal Staff WriterAn Auburn woman who immigrated from Mexico at the age of 15 recently realized her American dream ? opening her own restaurant, with the help of local investors.Maria Moreno?s red, white and green trailer is now a landmark, pointing hungry people toward Maria?s Mexican Tacos restaurant at 13483 Bowman Road.The patriotically painted trailer on Bowman and Luther roads became famous throughout Auburn for Maria?s Mexican food.On Monday Weimar resident Pat Rutter brought her niece, Melissa Stevens, from Oroville, to Moreno?s new restaurant located where Miya?s Sushi was previously.?I?ve eaten at a lot of Mexican restaurants,? Stevens said. ?But this is by far the best.?Rutter said her husband, Tim Rutter and his co-workers would visit Maria?s trailer whenever they had a chance because of the quality of the food.?It?s fresh,? she explained. ?And you can tell the difference.?Maria?s Mexican Tacos restaurant moved out of the trailer two weeks ago.Moreno said when she married Ramone Moreno at the age of 16, she did not know how to cook.?I just made experiments and they came out pretty good,? Moreno said. ?This is like a dream for me.?The native Mexican moved to Ventura County at the age of 15 to work in agricultural fields. Her parents had worked in the fields in Mexico, but she wanted to move to the United States. She moved to Auburn in 1971 with her husband, who worked for the Auburn Placer Disposal Service.She began her career as a cook at that time and started her 25-year employment for Gary Machado at Machado Orchards before purchasing the trailer last year.?I sold tamales, burritos, tacos and enchiladas,? Moreno said. ?That is how I got started in the business.?The trailer was already painted in the colors of the Mexican flag when she purchased it and her goddaughter, Irene Ramirez, helped her run it. Once she acquired her permit, she said the business picked up in no time.About that time, what turned out to be an extremely valuable customer, David Monforte, began stopping by for lunch about two times a week.?I would have went more, but if you drove by at lunch you couldn?t get near it (because of all the people in line),? Monforte said. ?It?s the best Mexican food north of the border.?Moreno had tried to rent a larger space, but could not afford to on her own, so Monforte made a business proposition.?I owned Dealer?s Choice Card Room next door with Phil Hawkins, and he and Dave Kerr own this building,? Monforte said. ?I offered to buy the building, do the demolition, reconstruction and equip the kitchen.?She agreed and they are now co-owners of the business. He said they expect to receive their beer and wine license by August and will celebrate with a grand opening. The date will be announced at a later time.