Photo by Brandon Sullivan

RESTAURATEUR

It’s not a big construction project, as Phoenix projects go. But the work that has gone on at Carmen Abril’s west Phoenix factory should give restaurateurs everywhere a sense of hope.

Abril grew up in the sticks of south Phoenix during World War II. Her mother was from Sonora, Mexico, and took care of the family while her father, a carpenter from Jalisco, Mexico, worked to pay the bills. The home had no plumbing, and whenever the Adams School was out of session, she and her siblings helped her mother pick cotton.

But by 1962, Abril was firmly on the path to restaurant success. That’s when she and her husband, Richard, founded La Canasta Mexican Foods Inc. He butchered meat for carne asada while she made fresh flour tortillas on a small black grill. The grill was so hot that it cooked the cement slab underneath it, forcing Carmen to hop from foot to foot as she churned out the essentials for Valley icons such as Macayo’s and Garcia’s.

Today, the operation is a network of conveyor belts and stainless steel, and it is expanding to 62,000 square feet. The company employs about 110 people, who crank out La Canasta tortillas, My Nana’s tortilla chips and other products for restaurants and retailers from the Midwest to the Mexican border.

Abril, 77, has help from her seven children. But she has one more project in mind before she joins Richard for that fiesta in the sky. 
    
How did La Canasta begin?
My husband was a butcher. Well, when the owner of the company needed a new shipping person, that was my husband’s ideal job. My husband was [overlooked and] very hurt. He went home and he knew he had to do something. He wanted to keep doing what he was doing, but he didn’t want to stay with his company because he wasn’t happy.

So we bought La Canasta. At that time, it was called Rico’s, a little building right there facing Seventh Avenue [and Grant Street]. The health department had closed it down, so we bought it, cleaned it up and added onto it. Right in front of the butchering part of it, we made flour tortillas. The kids helped.

How do you feel about what this has become?
I’m very proud of this and all my children because all seven children are involved in the business in one way or another.

What advice do you have for food business newbies?
You have to be consistent in what you do. The father of my children, he learned to cook and I started writing down everything. I made him measure everything for me so it would be consistent. I made the formulas making sure everything was the same – all the time. If you go to any La Canasta and you eat the red chile, the green chile, the hot sauce, the beans, the machaca – it’s all the same from how he started it to where we’re at right now. Nothing has changed. People don’t like to go to a restaurant and have it taste different from one time to another. If the food can’t be consistent, they’re not going to go back.

Chimichangas: authentic Mexican food or gringo food?
Hmm… I really couldn’t tell you.

What are some of the big challenges you have overcome?
The thing is the family is working together. It’s not easy for the family to work together. Everyone is very, very qualified for different things – whether it’s quality control, or the taste or whether it be tortillas, green chile, red chile or hot sauce.

It’s Friday night, and you want to go out. Where do you go?
I like Morton’s steakhouse. I like the meat. I also like Chinese food. Sing High is my favorite. Once in awhile, we all go out – all of my children and their spouses. We get a long table, but we don’t take the grandchildren. If we did that, we’d take up the whole restaurant. [The entire family includes 78 people.]

Good times or bad, tortillas seem recession proof. True?
Yes, that’s exactly right. It’s very true. And in those bad times, if people can’t buy them, they make their own. It’s not that hard to make a lot of tortillas at home. Once in awhile, I make flour tortillas at home just to get the fragrance in my home.

What happens next for the company?
Coming over the bridge on Seventh Avenue, I want an arch that can be seen outside our original restaurant. I want a bell on it with “La Canasta” on the top of it, and on the bottom I want a small waterfall below the arch – like a mission-style look. Behind that would be the restaurant.

The other thing is that I would want the city to pave some neighborhood streets here. If I am going to put something nice there, I want the city to clean up those neighborhoods. If they can do it east of Central Avenue, they should be able to give these people grants to help them be able to fix up their homes, and they should pave the streets and add sidewalks. Why is this one little area not being blessed as the city has blessed areas east of Central? We need our neighborhood to look good if I’m going to put that kind of money in there. I want the city to help out my neighbors.

Has being a Hispanic woman business owner gotten any easier over the years?
I don’t get within the high-power circles. I stay in my own area with my own children. When I get ready to go, I am going to get a good attorney, do the research and do this project right. I’m going to put him to work and make sure he gets the ball rolling. I need someone that has the real education – not the hands-on one like mine – to work with the city.

Do you think La Canasta will live on?
Absolutely. I have no doubt. This project is my last thing.