Meet Santiago Restrepo | Food Truck Owner and Operator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Santiago Restrepo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Santiago, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
One of the things that made me start thinking about starting my business was the fact that there was something I loved that was not available here in Los Angeles. I grew up in Colombia where the Arepa was a very big part of our daily meals. I was taught how to make arepas at a very young age by my mother and grandmother. At the age of 13 we moved to Los Angeles to live with my father and step mother. My step mother is Venezuelan and she introduced me to the Venezuelan style Arepas. I fell in love with that style of Arepas. I would always think, if there was a place that served nothing but these kind of Arepas, I would be in heaven. The idea was always in the back of my mind. It seemed strange to me that over the years this type of business never popped up. It was around 2015 when the food truck world was booming in LA that I decided to do it myself. I figured I could start with a small food trailer to see what the response to this product would be. My wife and I purchased a small trailer and started making and selling Arepas on the weekends. We both kept our full time jobs not knowing how this was gonna be received. After just a few months, we realized we had tapped into something special. The response was amazing. We continued doing this for 2 years, the business kept growing and getting more popular. In 2019 we decided to quit our jobs and do this full time. As scary as this was, we knew the support and love for our business had been established. It has been the best decision of our lives. We are now doing what we love and could not be happier to have taken this leap of faith.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We own and operate a food truck in Los Angeles, CA that sells Colombian/Venezuelan style Arepas. In the very competitive food truck world of LA, it has been amazing to be able to compete and gain popularity. While it was not an easy journey, it was made easier by the incredible response from our continuously growing customer base. We love the community that we are building with our product, bringing Colombians and Venezuelans out while also introducing Arepas to the Los Angeles foodie world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was here for a week I would make sure to take him to Phillipe’s for some french dipped sandwiches before heading up to Dodger Stadium to catch a Dodger game. We would enjoy a Dodger game with some cold brews and Dodger dogs. I would then show him some of my favorite hiking spots and hangouts around Griffith Park and Runyon Canyon. There’s nothing like getting a good view of LA at the top of Runyon Canyon, just amazing. I wold have to take him out for a night in Ktown for some Korean BBQ. There’s some really amazing spots in Ktown where you can get tons of food for cheap and have a great time. At the end of the week, we would take some time to hit an LA beach before spending Sunday in DTLA at Smorgasburg’s food market. It is the single greatest food festival in town and the best place to walk around all day and try a little bit of everything. We would then spend the rest of the day relaxing at ROW DTLA and enjoying a cold brew.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This was all made possible with the love and support of both of our families. They trusted in us, helped us physically, financially and emotionally from the very beginning.

Website: www.susarepas.net

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