PAPALOTE DIARIES

Happy International Bean Day! Here I was, getting ready to go to my local panadería (bakery) to pick up a rosca de reyes to celebrate Día de Reyes, the day the three kings arrived to honor baby Jesus with gifts, before Amazon delivered gold, incense, and myrrh. Día de Reyes is cool because you get to eat a special circular bread adorned with bits of dry fruit. It represents a crown with jewels. The panaderos (bakers) hide a few plastic figurines representing Baby Jesus, usually two to three in a regulation rosca. Everyone takes turn at cutting their own piece. If you get one of the figurines in your piece of rosca, or if you touch it as you’re cutting into the bread, then you’re the lucky winner, and your prize is to make tamales for everybody on February 2, Día de la Candelaria. Darn, I should have written about this whole Día de Reyes thing instead of what I’m going to write about…  One last thing about Día de Reyes. On the day before Día de Reyes you’re supposed to put one of your shoes by the door. When you wake up on Día de Reyes you go get your shoe and hope that the Three Kings left you a nice present, just the way they did when they went to visit Baby Jesus! When you have siblings, you can each tell who each present belongs to because the Three Wise Kings lovingly put your shoe on top of your present. They really are wise, huh? Ok. I’ll write about that in depth next year. So, I was ready to go to my local panadería to pick up a rosca de reyes when I found out that today is not only Día de Reyes, but it’s also International Bean Day! Yay! Ok. So, I just wanted to quickly share with you that at Papalote Mexican Grill, where Papalote Salsa was created, we serve three different types of beans. Woah! Three Kings… three beans… coincidence? Yes.Whole black beans, whole pinto beans, and black refried beans. And you know what? They’re all vegan. The reason we decided to make our beans without lard, especially our refried beans without lard is because we find that many of us don’t always finish our burrito on the first sitting… and so we ask for a piece of aluminum foil and throw it in our backpack, or in our purse, or just put it in a little paper bag. Next thing you know, a few hours later, you remember you have a little snack right there, and you take it out and start munching on it. It’s when you get your first bite, and the back of your teeth are coated with coagulated cold lard, that you regret the move. Ok, maybe avoiding that experience wasn’t the original intention, but it’s a nice bonus we discovered later on. The reason we do not use lard when making our refried beans or when we fry the rice to make our Spanish rice, is because most vegetarian and vegan customers are accustomed to having a rice and bean burrito as the only “vegetarian” option available to them, simply because they’re avoiding the meat options. If they’re lucky the establishment will throw in some lettuce, but that’s the only option that’s been available to them for decades…even though both the rice and the beans are traditionally prepared with lard.Incidentally, at Papalote Mexican Grill we do offer a nice variety of vegetarian burritos. Plant based we offer our veggie filling: potato, carrot and mushroom. Delicious. Our grilled veggies: grilled eggplant and zucchini. Delectable. We also offer grilled marinated tofu, marinated in achiote and grilled to create an earthy, robust offering. We also offer tofu mole, with lightly seasoned and marinated grilled tofu smothered in our house mole (my dad’s recipe). We also prepare a mean soyrizo burrito. Beautiful. New this year, we’ll be launching our lion’s mane al pastor. Holy smokes! It’s amazing! (We haven’t officially announced it yet, so wait for it… wait for it…and shhhhhh!). And of course, we offer the truly vegetarian Rice and Bean burrito, with whole black, whole pinto, or black refried beans!One of the questions we get asked the most is why we don’t offer refried pinto beans. When we first opened Papalote Mexican Grill we did use pinto beans. The challenge we faced is that traditionally refried pinto beans are a lot heavier and more, shall we say, substantial, precisely because of the lard they were prepared with. Vegetarian pinto beans feel weak, sort of watered down. We’ve been conditioned to expect a certain thickness and density when savoring pinto refried beans. That’s not the case with black refried beans. There’s not Pavlovian reaction when you see a plate of black refried pinto beans. There’s the element of surprise. Black refried beans evoke a sense of novelty and a certain (unintended) sophistication.  Finally, what makes Papalote burritos special is the combination of simple rice, beans, and pico de gallo, coming together to celebrate the fillings that are featured in our burritos. Whether it’s our traditional freshly grilled carne asada (not carne adobada), our flaky sautéed fish, or our savory soyrizo, our beans do not interfere with the flavors of our veggies and proteins, or try to steal the show with over the top trendy spices.  Our beans are simple, classic beans everybody can enjoy. That’s it. Simple. Now, if you want to take it to the next level. Next time you serve beans at home, even if they’re out of a can, actually, especially if they’re out of a can, I hope you will treat yourself to the deliciousness that occurs when you blend in a little Papalote Salsa into your beans as you’re warming them up in a little pot. The silky, robust flavors that Papalote Salsa delivers blend in perfectly with the subtle flavor and taste of the beans. That and that little kick you get from your favorite variety of Papalote Salsa, Original (red dry chiles), Serrano-Tomatillo, Habanero, or Chipotle, really do elevate your bean experience. And I rarely use the word elevate when I talk about food, especially beans. I think I will form now on! Ooh, the Papalote Chipotle + beans. Out of this world! So, happy International Bean Day! ¡Feliz día de Reyes! And since I haven’t seen you since last year, Happy New Year! Ok, now I’m off to the panadería. Wish me luck.

I was born in Mexico City. We moved to the United States when I was 12.I was very sad and scared the first few years. I didn’t want any of it. I wanted to go back to the life I had envisioned growing up. I wanted the natural sequence to continue. I was supposed to start la escuela secundaria the year we immigrated.I was robbed.It was 1980. We lived in San Rafael where my mom’s brothers had opened a restaurant sometimein the 70s. It was the fifth of several restaurants my family opened under the guidance of mymom’s aunt Celia starting in San Francisco in 1960.I missed Mexico so much. I guess I was lucky to have family living here already. Half of mymother’s siblings lived in Mexico and half lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I loved going tomy cousins’ houses and speaking Spanish with them. And eating the same food my family madein Mexico. That was nice. And then the people who worked at the restaurant where both myparents worked all spoke Spanish. As well as some of the customers. That was nice too.The problem was school. My two younger brothers integrated much quicker than I did. It tookme longer to learn English. They were in elementary school. I was in middle school. 7 th grade. Ihated not being able to learn English as quickly as my brothers did. I hated my accent. I hatednot understanding people. I hated not being able to talk to people.I wanted to go back to Mexico. I was so angry. I was robbed.What was the point of all this? What were my parents thinking?I remember the first time my parents took me to the Mission District in San Francisco.We parked in a narrow street. There was music coming out of a window on the second floor ofsome house. Then the radio DJ came on speaking Spanish sounding just like the radio I was usedto hearing coming out of windows in Mexico. And then another familiar song. We walked to abigger street. Wider. Busier. Full of people selling things on the street. Lots of people walking onthe sidewalks.24 th Street. It felt familiar. It didn’t feel like Mexico. It didn’t look like Mexico. But with all the Spanishmusic coming from virtually every business, with all the people speaking in Spanish, some withstrange accents shouting who knows what…a store full of piñatas. Fresh fruit and vegetables ondisplay at various stores. And taquerias everywhere. Mexican restaurants offering the same foodas the food you would get at restaurants in Mexico. It looked the same, it tasted the same, itsmelled the same. Milanesas. Costillitas. Tortillas. Tacos de lengua. Frijolitos. Carnitas.Horchata. The same. Still, it wasn’t Mexico, but it was comforting. It was very, very nice.Though it messed with my mind.Going to Librería México to pick up the latest Condorito. Or Mafalda. Going to Discolandia andbuying a record, or a cassette. Music blasting from the speakers at the door. Little by littlediscovering different types of music such as salsa, oldies, chicano rock, cumbia… opening myworld to the Latino culture. The culture of the Mission. La Misión.These visits slowly helped me go from Mexicano de México, to Mexican, to Latino, to beaner, towetback, to Raza...and everything in between. The many ways people labeled me. The manyways I labeled myself. It helped me discover, understand, and embrace my metamorphosis fromMexicano to Latino. La Misión was my capullo, my cocoon.We would go a few times a year. The visits slowed down eventually. I graduated from highschool, focused on college, life got busy. I would go to the Mission at night after clubbingsomewhere in the City. 3:00am. Farolito. Dos de lengua, uno de cabeza, uno de carnitas.Drunken nights. Margaritas at La Rondalla. Drunk. And afterwards… 3:00am. Farolito. Dos delengua, uno de cabeza, uno de carnitas. Little Baobab. Dance. Drink. Sol y Luna. Cesar’s LatinPalace… and afterwards, 3:00am. Farolito. Dos de lengua, uno de cabeza, uno de carnitas.I love the way the Mission saw me grow up on sunny days when I was little, and how it saw methrow up in the middle of the night in my twenties.And then I ended up with Papalote. In the Mission. On 24 th Street. It’s been 26 years since weopened in 1999. A block or two away from Farolito. What did happen? It’s so surreal.Fast forward to a few years ago when I opened La Snackería, which I had to close after a coupleof years because it didn’t go as I thought it would. I failed. 24 th and Mission, the heart of theMission District. Street food, tortas, salads, Mexican nostalgia candy, Chaparritas, Sabritas…nope. Not its time.La Snackería was a block or two from Papalote, so I would spend my time walking back andforth checking out Papalote, checking out La Snackería. Back and forth.A block makes a heck of a difference in the Mission. A block is the difference between theTijuana vibe on Mission Street and the vibe on Valencia Street, one of the most gentrified streetsin the City.One of the things I enjoyed the most about the location of La Snackería was that it was the firstbusiness you saw as you came out of BART (our subway) on this side of the 24 th and Mission station. This side of the station is a wide plaza where vendors would set up to sell belts, cobijas,hats, food, coffee, fruit. All kinds of stands. And then there were the special seasonal eventswhere the lowrider club would park several cars there on the plaza and showcase them. Therewere concerts. Dance events. Afro-Cuban, Yucateco, hiphop… all kinds of dance. That BARTplaza was a true community center for the longest time. Decades. Before Papalote and LaSnackería I would only get to see these events once a year or so, if that… if I happened to be inthe City, in the Mission, when one of these events was going on. But now that I owned LaSnackería I got to see something cool every other weekend.INSERT GRAPHIC: Ricardo “El Tigre” Peña.jpgOne of my favorite things to see at the plaza was when the Aztec dancers would set up at thecorner and they would dance to the beat of the quintessential drummer, with the dancers shakingthe shells tied to their ankles with every barefoot step. Incense (copal) burning.At this point in my life the Mission had become the main reason for my stress, my worries, myfears, my drinking, my depression, my anger. I had two businesses in the Mission and they werenot doing so good. Papalote to Snackería, back and forth. Snackería to Papalote. Anguish. Angst.The fear and the pain of imminent failure.One evening I was at La Snackería and I heard the Aztec Dancers there at the corner and I wentto see them, and I just stood there, watching the drummer. I began studying his face. His eyes.There he was, drumming away, leading his students with his drum, working them into a trance.His face barely moved. But his eyes saw everything. He was aware of his dancers. He was awareof the families walking by. He was aware of the drunk walking in front of him stoppingmomentarily and then walking away. He saw everything. He judged everything. He forgaveeveryone. He sanctified that corner. He blessed those who were present. He drew us all in withhis beat. He catalogued. His eyes moved wisely. Forgivingly. Lovingly. This was his stage. Thiswas his church. This was his temple. And we were all there to worship the moment and take it in.Mindfulness. And he had been doing this for decades.After seeing him a few times I got to know his face well. And I found comfort in his expression.And it took me back to when I was little and saw the dancers in Mexico in Chapultepec, or at elZócalo, or some festival somewhere. Before I got robbed. Before Mexico became a distantmemory that I’ve tried to hang on to with all my love and power. And anger. Watching him hithis drum as I stood there with La Snackería in the background I began to let go. I began to acceptthat I control nothing, and that all I can do is try really hard. Work hard. And not give up.Forgive myself. Learn. Live. Breathe.Eventually I found out he was the owner of the store I always saw on my way back home fromthe restaurants. It’s a store in the corner of 24 th Street and South Van Ness. Driving away fromPapalote at 24 th and Valencia, past La Snackería at 24 th and Mission, and driving in front of hisstore at 24 th and South Van Ness.Fuckin’ 24 th Street, man. I tell you. Anyway, the store is Mixcoatl. Lucha libre masks, ponchos, zarapes, arts and crafts. He wouldoften be standing by the door. Talking to people, watching people walk by. When he saw me hewould wave and smile. When he didn’t notice me I would roll down the window and shoutsomething to get his attention… “Qué pasotes con los chayotes y esos zapatotes?!” Big laugh.Big wave. “Ahí nos vemos, carnalito!” He spoke my Spanish. He spoke the Spanish I knewwhen I was not aware of the existence of the San Francisco Bay Area. When I didn’t know thehallways of Davidson Middle School in San Rafael. When I didn’t speak English. When I wasn’tlate to turn in a final paper at Dwinelle Hall at U.C. Berkeley. He knew the Mexico I knew whenmy reality wasn’t torn and distorted.Sometimes when I drove by his store he had a certain expression on his face that made me pullover and see what was going on with him. We were from the same place, but now somehow, weboth had a business or two in San Francisco’s Mission District… on 24 th Street. I cried with hima couple of times. Sometimes I would walk out of Papalote, past La Snackería, past theMcDonald’s, and make it to the corner just in time to let the tears roll. And he would comfort me.Sometimes I would be watching him hitting his drum at the corner with his dancers going all out,with all the people around them. And then he would catch my eye. Eye contact. A five secondconversation. A five second lament. A five second connection that filled my spirit and my heart.All of this until very recently.Ricardo “El Tigre” Peña passed away in his sleep on Monday, December 8th. Ask me where hisspirit is.

As you might know by now, Papalote salsa was born when Papalote Mexican Grill opened its doors in 1999, in the heart of the San Francisco Mission District. 10 years later Chef Bobby Flay challenged Papalote to a burrito throwdown on Food Network’s Throwdown! with Bobby Flay. Bobby Flay showed up with a green burrito, Papalote Mexican Grill brought the Triple Threat Burrito, Papalote beat Flay, Flay said “The salsa is the secret weapon!” and the rest, as they say, is history.After the burrito episode of Throwdown! with Bobby Flay aired in early 2010 I began to look into how I could get Papalote Salsa in stores to take advantage of Bobby Flay’s amazing endorsement and the exposure given to Papalote on this vastly popular platform. By September of that year the retail version of Papalote’s house salsa, known as Papalote Roasted Tomato House Salsa, hit the shelves of a few select stores, including a few Whole Foods locations in San Francisco. Soon after that the presence at Whole Foods expanded. First to the South Bay, then to the East Bay, and finally to the North Bay. In a couple of years Papalote Salsa was at every Whole Foods in the Northern California Region as far as Fresno, Santa Rosa, and even the Reno, Nevada store. After a while, as Papalote Salsa gained traction, the buyers for the Whole Foods region asked if I was thinking of coming up with anything else. They wanted to offer me more retail real estate on their shelves, but there was only so much room they could offer a single SKU (stock keeping unit). They wanted some sort of variant, like different sizes, heat levels, flavors, etc. I decided to add three variants. The way we select the ingredients and cook our tomato, garlic, and onion base is so unique I didn’t want to change anything with the foundation of the salsa. The option, as I saw it, was to change the pepper we use for the retail version we were making and bottling in Sonoma (based on the salsa we make at the restaurants, of course).I decided to replace the original red dry chili pepper we traditionally use with three different kinds of peppers representative of different culinary regions of Mexico. Ugh, once again, I find myself opening a Pandora’s box writing about this decision and the thinking that went behind it. Not to mention the test kitchen headaches and all the hard work that went into making this happen. I should write a couple of blogs about the process and go into detail.Anyway, one of the three varieties of salsa I decided on was Habanero (and I call them varieties because the only thing that changed with the three new SKUs of Papalote Salsa was the variety of pepper featured in each, well, variety of Papalote Salsa). I chose Habanero because, although the original Papalote Mexican Grill House Salsa already had a bit of a kick, based on feedback I received as I met and spoke with customers at my in-store demos at every Northern California Whole Foods (including Fresno, Santa Rosa, and Reno), people wanted a salsa that would deliver some serious heat. The approach I used to create the Habanero variety was to celebrate the fruity, floral flavor and its citrusy notes, which then turn into smoky undertones as a unique, robust heat follows and lingers along with the floral and fruity components that remain in the palate. The original roasted tomato, garlic, and onion base ended up being the perfect canvas for all three of the featured peppers, and it was especially delicious with the habanero variety because the smoky, darker notes of the salsa really bring forward all the marvelous attributes of the habanero pepper. Habaneros are representative of the southeastern region of Mexico, particularly the Yucatán Peninsula. Many people know that dinosaurs went extinct because of a meteorite. However, it’s not commonly known that the meteorite landed right in that region. Imagine all the layers that were penetrated and exploded bringing out all types of minerals from the depths as well as from the meteorite itself. Thought the meteorite impact happened tens of millions of years ago, it did indirectly influence the evolution of all plants, including the lineage from which habaneros would later emerge. There are several varieties of Habanero in the Yucatán Peninsula. In coming up with the recipe I just made my base salsa, which we’ve made in Sonoma from the very beginning with garlic from Gilroy, Onions from Oxnard, and tomatoes from the California Central Valley. I just kept adding raw Habanero peppers until the unique, distinctive flavor of the habanero popped, and a delicious heat followed. Papalote Roasted Tomato Salsa-Habanero is not anywhere near as hot as many habanero salsas and hot sauces that add oils and extracts to make their product excessively and painfully hot. Again, my intention is to showcase the flavor as well as all the extraordinary qualities of this remarkable pepper, including the naturally occurring intensity of heat habaneros deliver (but not focusing solely on the heat).The end result is an incredibly tasty salsa that is not only great for dipping, but is also great for cooking. Your favorite cerveza will greatly appreciate the company of a generous serving of corn chips dipped in Papalote Habanero Salsa. Papalote Habanero Salsa is also amazing on eggs in the morning to add a deliciously addicting “wake me up” kick and boost of flavor with a smooth texture. It’s also perfect for adding flavor and complexity to your favorite recipes that call for a silky, rich tomato base. My favorite is a white wine and butter shrimp sauté with some of your favorite cubed vegetables and finishing it with Papalote Habanero Salsa. These Habanero Camarones a la Diabla can be served on a bed of rice or pasta. Absolutely delicious. To celebrate the culmination of this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, as well as the continued celebration of fifteen years of Papalote Salsas in stores, we’d like to feature our Papalote Mexican Grill Roasted Tomato Salsa HABANERO and offer 20% OFF when you purchase it online exclusively at our website, www.papalotesalsa.com.Celebrate the Hispanic Heritage Month and our 15th Anniversary with a HABANERO BANG! Sale ends at midnight on Monday, October 13. Use code HABANERO20 and save on your order of HABANERO Papalote Roasted Tomato Salsa.Hubba hubba hubba!

I spent a week celebrating our 15th anniversary doing demos at some of the key stores that helped us get our start and who have supported us wholeheartedly along the way. And the universe gave me the best gift and surprise for our very special quinceañera celebration. In February of 2010, February 17, to be exact, Papalote defeated Bobby Flay in the burrito episode of Food Network’s Throwdown! with Bobby Flay. The premise of the show was that Bobby Flay would travel to different parts of the country and he would challenge iconic chefs who prepared iconic renditions of iconic regional dishes. The producers would find a popular chef in Boston, for instance, and have Bobby Flay show up at their establishment and surprise them with a throwdown challenge to see who could make the best clam chowder. He would go to Chicago and do a pizza throwdown, or New Orleans for a jambalaya throwdown… you get the idea. So, anyway, long story short, Bobby Flay challenged us to a burrito throwdown in San Francisco...Not only did we beat Bobby Flay in the burrito throwdown, but the best part was that when he accepted defeat, he said “the salsa is the secret weapon.”Well, shoot. We opened Papalote in 1999, March 17, to be exact. So, a little over ten years after having opened Papalote Mexican Grill in the San Francisco Misson District there we were, going face to face with Bobby Flay at a time where he was quite famous, a lot of people watched Food Network, and Papalote was getting awesome write ups and comments from the media in general (before all hell broke loose with Yelp, Google, and other Internet and social media platforms gained popularity).  Soon after we opened Papalote, people discovered the salsa we had created for the concept. The ingredients are the exact same as the salsa that our aunt, Tía Celia, served at the restaurant she opened with her husband Perfecto Lopez in the San Francisco Avenues at 47th and Judah in 1960, I’m not sure what day exactly. I do know that they just recently had a celebration of Celia’s #1 (Tía Celia’s original restaurant), which Celia’s grandchildren, Salvador and Phil, are currently in charge of. Many Celia’s locations followed throughout the years, run by different partners, some related, some simply former employees, and of those about ten Celia’s are still operating throughout the Bay Area, and dozens of offshoots are still thriving up and down the Pacific Coast, mainly in Northern California all the way to Washington state. So, yeah, without a doubt, Papalote absolutely owes its existence to Tía Celia. And yes, our salsa, as I mentioned, has the same ingredients as her salsa. The preparation of our salsa, however, as well as the expression of each ingredient that goes into Papalote Salsa, is vastly different. The thing is everybody has a favorite Mexican restaurant. And everybody loves the house salsa at their favorite restaurant. And I’m sure the owner of every Mexican restaurant has, at one point of another, heard their customers tell them “You should bottle the salsa!”. I know I heard it all the time, for those first ten years people would tell us how special and unique they thought our salsa was, and that we should bottle it. And I would agree, and say I’d look into it. And I would dream a little. And I would sigh a lot. And then I would go back to the day to day of running a restaurant. Until I heard Bobby Flay say “the salsa is the secret weapon”, that is. Look, by 2010 we had already opened our second location at Fulton and Masonic. Still, Bobby Flay endorsing two little restaurants in San Francisco was a little overkill… national exposure for two tiny burrito shops. That’s too much. I wanted to capitalize on the opportunity, yet I didn’t have the experience, the time, or the wherewithal to open more restaurants to take full advantage of Bobby Flay’s endorsement. The salsa, however, could definitely benefit from the publicity if we acted quickly and we launched the store version of the salsa and stroked while the iron was hot.  The burrito episode of Throwdown! aired in February. By September I had figured out a few options for production, the legal stuff, the nutritional stuff, I designed the label, had the labels printed…I got a warehouse, which came with an office, which came with some used furniture that was still functional (and some, the majority, still is, 15 years later!). We were officially in business by September 15th of 2010 (Which also happens to be the night of the Grito de la Independencia in Mexico and is also the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month here in the United States. Not only that, 2010 was especially momentous because it was the bicentennial anniversary of Mexico’s independence, and to top it off, it was also the centennial celebration of the Mexican Revolution).Check it out, though. 15 years later, if I knew what the hell I was doing, Papalote Salsa should have been sold for some group of investors to have grown it (if you knew the people and the offers I’ve turned down you would dope slap me, fo sho. Now Imagine how Jodi feels. It must drive her crazy, and yet, somehow, she is there by my side. We make a good team. What a life! What a wife!). Papalote Salsa either should have been sold, or I should have folded by now. Or maybe I should be a millionaire like Famous Amos, or Ben and Jerry, or Justin, or Amy, or… you know, one of them millionaires. All I know is that I’m sure my story is frustrating as heck to people in the industry. What’s this guy doing?!? I… I don’t know. And yet, here we are. Celebrating 15 years of existence. 15 years of making the salsa the way I think it should be made. Without compromising with investors. Without cutting corners. Without needing to sell out. 15 years of carrying on Tía Celia’s legacy. This is NOT to say that if you want to buy the company you shouldn’t make an offer, don’t you go getting’ me wrong, now! These fifteen years, mistakes and all, with all the failures, and all the adventures, are worthy of celebrating. And so, I did.Starting on Monday, September 15 I did a week of demos at some of the most iconic, most pivotal stores that have helped Papalote Salsa survive and thrive. The theme was quinceañera. I bought a pink tablecloth, I bought some flowers, made some display signs for my little table, and booked me some demos. Last minute I bought a few quinceañera greeting cards to make the display more festive and help illustrate the theme a little better… and then the magic happened. I don’t know why I was so surprised, but as I was telling people that it was our 15th anniversary and giving them different parts of the spiel, you know, “…low sodium, no water, no vinegar, and no sugar added; onions from Oxnard, garlic from Gilroy, Tomatoes from the Valley, vegan, gluten free…” people started signing the cards. I mean, why not, right? It’s my quinceañera, the cards were there, it’s only right for people to feel compelled to share some nice congratulatory words of encouragement and good will, right? So, I kept it going. I brought the cards to all the demos that week, and some pens. Watching people crouch down closer to my little table to write a little thought on one of the cards was very special to me. [Insert: QuinceañeraCards.jpg] I love doing demos because they’re great focus groups. They’re a very efficient way to see what people like and what they think would make our products better. I get to hear directly from the consumer why they love Papalote Salsa, and why some literally hate it. By the way, based on the feedback I’ve received these past couple of years, I’d like to once again announce that a big announcement is coming that is going to make so many people so happy, it’s happening soon, and I’m very excited. This last round of demos corroborates the research and makes me feel great about the decision to make this change. But I digress. Man, I could elaborate so much on each paragraph I’ve written so far, alas, I have to keep it somewhat within the scope of whatever I had in mind when I started writing this blog.Let me just say, and I’ll finish with this thought, that I am so grateful to so many people and so many stores that have made a little room for us on their shelves. The thrill is still 100% there. I do not take anything for granted. Nothing but gratitude and appreciation. This CPG business is brutal. It’s cruel. It’s unforgiving. It is intense. I have learned so much along the way, and now with all these things that are happening, Ai, tariffs, social media, there’s just so much to take in, so many decisions to be made, it is surreal.I’m so happy I chose to celebrate doing demos. I got the opportunity to document the love for Papalote Salsas from the buyers, the team members, and, most importantly, the people who buy Papalote Salsa, some of whom ran to my little display table to give me a hug, some to shake my hand, some to share with me their Papalote Salsa stories, some to sign my cards, and some to simply say thank you. Thank ME!?!? No, no, no… thank YOU!!! You guys, thank you. Nothing but gratitude and appreciation.

Hello! At Papalote you get to enjoy one salsa. The house salsa. The salsa that represents us and represents our menu. Our salsa.That salsa, Papalote Salsa, was created mainly and primarily so we could offer our customers some chips and salsa while they waited for their burrito. The salsa was meant to be a simple appetizer, the classic quintessential Mexican hors d’ouvres. And then we discovered something…When we opened Papalote Mexican Grill in 1999 we had burritos in mind. Back then there were no restaurants that specialized in burritos specifically. We based the whole concept on two things: Carne asada (grilled steak) burritos and pollo asado (grilled chicken) burritos. And we focused on making the best burritos with the best, freshest ingredients possible.The carne asada at Papalote Mexican Grill is based on the carne asada you’d expect to get, well, at a carne asada… let me explain. Carne asada is grilled steak, right? It’s literally what it means in Spanish. However, carne asada is also what you call an event where the main course is the carne asada itself. Think of it this way, in the US, for instance, the event is a barbecue, in Argentina it’s an asado, and in Mexico it’s a carne asada. To me a carne asada (the event) usually takes place outdoors. There are balloons tied to a few strings to make the event more festive and to claim the spot you’ve selected at the park, the beach, the empty lot, whatever. There are always a couple of piñatas on deck at a carne asada. There are coolers full of drinks for everybody, either under one of the folding tables, or in the back of someone’s pickup truck. ¿Se va a hacer o no se va a hacer? (Is it going to happen or is it not going to happen?) is what people ask in anticipation as a carne asada is being planned, because everybody knows it’s going to be a good time shared with loved ones.  It could be in someone’s backyard with a few friends, or it could be a gathering of dozens of friends and family at a local park. Ok, back to the grilled steak. I’m not sure everybody understands what carne asada (grilled steak) is. It’s important to note there’s a big difference between carne asada and marinated steak. Carne asada has always been thinly sliced grilled steak, usually flap or skirt steak (arrachera is what you typically order at your local carnicería). Salt, maybe pepper, thinly sliced grilled steak…that’s it. It bums me out when people leave angry or disappointed reviews for our carne asada at Papalote Mexican Grill because “it’s not flavorful enough”. What makes me sad is that they’re comparing carne asada to carne marinada (marinated meat).Let me ask you this: Do you like the taste of grilled meat? If so, why mask it with marinades? That’s it, that’s the question. Why bury the flavor of freshly grilled meats with overpowering marinades. That’s the magic of carne asada. It celebrates the true, natural flavor of steak. Plain and simple. And that’s what I offer at Papalote. You need two things for a true carne asada. High quality steak, and an open flame. At Papalote you get a four-ounce steak, grilled when you order it, prepared directly from grill to tortilla. We cut it into bite size pieces so you can get the mouthfeel of freshly grilled steak. And since we cut it without letting it rest, all the juices burst out and permeate the rice and the beans, creating delicious umami alchemy.The alternative is putting 30 lbs. of cheap meat on the flat top, cooking it with fat (grease is flavor), juices, marinades, sauces, whatever’s needed to make some crappy meat taste good. Then chopping it into tiny little pieces so nobody can detect the gristle, the nerves, and who knows what else. This mountain of minced meat is put in vats, cooled off, and stored in the fridge. As the day goes it’s scooped as needed and reheated on the flat top again with even more mystery liquids to try to revive the sloppy mess. That’s not carne asada. It’s not.So, if traditional carne asada is so simple to make, if it’s such a minimalistic cooking process with very few ingredients: steak, salt, fire… what differentiates a Papalote Carne Asada Burrito from any other carne asada burrito? What makes a Papalote Burrito special?The salsa. It’s…the salsa.Papalote seals the deal bringing umami goodness to the table with our roasted tomato house salsa. We roast our tomatoes every day and cook our salsa with fresh garlic, fresh onions, and red dry chili peppers. Yes, it’s the perfect concoction for our guests to dip their chips in while they patiently wait for us to grill the meats. And then… as we were testing our menu we put our salsa on our steak. The combined tastes of an excellent expression of carne asada plus our roasted tomato house salsa, separate, but together, bring the senses to life and hit your tastebuds with deep, complex flavors that totally make sense. As soon as you taste it you know this combination was meant to be. This is something special. It was serendipity at its finest when we discovered that this little savory pre-meal snack would also be the ultimate way to accompany the classic carne asada we so lovingly and meticulously decided to prepare: one of the principal elements on which we had based the whole Papalote Mexican Grill concept had found its undeniably perfect complement. Carne asada and Papalote Salsa. Beautiful.We knew we had something special when we opened our doors in 1999, and in the end, it was corroborated by none other than Bobby Flay when in 2010 he challenged Papalote on Food Network’s Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, to see who could make the best burrito. During the battle, as we were tasting each other’s creations, Chef Flay took a bite and savored the Papalote Burrito. After finishing his first bite he turned to the audience and, with a firm, decisive voice, declared that the salsa was the secret weapon. That moment. That affirmation. That endorsement lit a fire in me and, in that precise moment, 15 years ago, I knew that Papalote Salsa was destined to be in stores.And here we are, 15 years later, with four varieties of retail Papalote Salsa, featuring four different varieties of chili peppers: Dry chili peppers in our Original House Salsa, Serrano-Tomatillo, Habanero, and Chipotle. Papalote Salsa is available at fine stores throughout California and various other regions in the Western United States, including Texas, Arizona, and Hawaii. It is also available online by visiting our website, www.papalotesalsa.com, and you can also order Papalote Salsa through amazon.com.With no added water, no added sugar, and with no vinegar, locally sourced with the best produce California has to offer: Garlic from Gilroy, onions from Oxnard, and tomatoes from the California Central Valley, Papalote Salsas are great for dipping, and ideal for cooking!September 15, 2010. Fifteen years in stores.Happy Quiniceañera, Papalote Salsa!

(AUGUST 26, 2025) Hey there,I’d love to tell you a little bit about the various varieties of Papalote Salsa, which was created in San Francisco’s Mission District in 1999 when Papalote Mexican Grill opened its doors in 1999. Original House Salsa Papalote House Salsa is based on the salsa we’ve been serving with chips at Papalote Mexican Grill from the very start. It is the only salsa we offer at the restaurant, and it represents the house: our concept, our menu, and three generations of restaurateurs in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is delicious with chips and its smoky character and robust roasted tomato notes enhance the flavor of our grilled meats, especially our carne asada... Papalote House Salsa is incredibly versatile. not only is it delicious and satisfying with corn chips as a snack any time, but it also goes great as a topping on Mexican dishes, on game-time classics such as pizza and hot dogs, and at breakfast on eggs any way you like them. And because there’s no vinegar, sugar, or water added, it’s ideal for cooking your favorite recipes and simply substituting tomato paste and sauces with your favorite variety of Papalote Salsa to add some complexity and a little bit of a kick. As Papalote Salsa grew in popularity our retail partners asked us to expand our line of salsas and I came up with three additional varieties of chili pepper representative of regional Mexican Cuisine: A tangy serrano tomatillo salsa represents Jalisco, Michoacán, and the western region of Mexico. A silky habanero salsa represents the peninsula of Yucatán and its vast culinary heritage. And a robust and smoky chipotle salsa represents my place of birth, the amazing Mexico City. Serrano-Tomatillo Salsa I started with our signature roasted tomato, onion and garlic base. I omitted the original dry chili pepper and right before I blended it, I added serrano peppers and tangy tomatillos. Together this pairing gives you a bright, rustic, fresh-out-of-the-garden vibe. Again, great for dipping. It is the perfect topping for carnitas tacos and it’s ideal for making the best homemade chilaquiles you’ve ever tasted. Habanero Salsa More than attempting to achieve a certain heat level, I just added enough habanero to the mix to feature the fruity flavor of the habanero pepper. The heat was secondary. Though Habanero Papalote Salsa is the hottest in our lineup, it spotlights the silky flavor of habaneros and their complex heat. Unlike some products that add extracts and oils to maximize the heat factor, Papalote Habanero Salsa delivers the true, natural, unaltered heat of these amazing peppers.Same roasted tomato base you know and love, which is the perfect canvas to highlight the bold character of Habanero peppers — Think of it as a perfect balance between “Whoa, that’s spicy!” and “Mmm, I need more.” Chipotle Salsa Smoky and earthy… two types of chipotle peppers augment the smoky notes and profile of our roasted tomato, onion, and garlic foundation. Chipotle is a dry, smoked jalapeño pepper. I added the dry version during the cooking of our salsa and, right before blending the mix, I added chipotle in adobo, the sweet sauce that traditionally accompanies chipotle peppers. This bold combination of chipotle expressions meets fire roasted tomato for a rich, savory flavor that feels slow-cooked and soulful. The heat is moderate — it lingers just enough to keep your tongue warm and rounds out the dark, robust character of our chipotle duo. Perfect for when you want a little campfire vibe in your kitchen. Whether you’re spooning it on your favorite Mexican cuisine creations, tossing it into a recipe, or just standing over the counter with chips (no judgment), there’s a Papalote Salsa for your mood.¡Buen Provecho! Victor Chief Salsa Officer

(SEPTEMBER 1, 2025) Hi!Last week we ran into a little hiccup in the kitchen the day before this month’s production. We were going to be short on the peppers we use for our House Salsa. Apparently, it was the one thing that was inadvertently left behind when the truck left the loading docks of our Gilroy supplier. The main ingredient we get from them is our garlic, of course. However, they do supply us with some of the dry chili peppers we use.I got the call in the morning; when they discovered we had been shorted our order the kitchen said they would only be able to produce half of the order of our flagship Papalote House Salsa. Our supplier confirmed they had the product, and they didn’t know why it had been left behind. Stuff like that can happen. And it happened. By then the truck was making other deliveries, and they would not be able to pick up the product in Gilroy and bring it to us until mid-morning the following day, several hours too late.I looked at the clock and I realized that right at that time, going to Gilroy would only take an hour and a half, at the most. I could go get the peppers, come back to the warehouse, and have our delivery driver take the peppers to the kitchens by 7:00am, just in time for our production run. So, I got in my trusty little van and headed out to beautiful Gilroy, Garlic Capital of the World.Sometimes I take for granted how lucky I am to have landed in the San Francisco Bay Area, and to ultimately have had the opportunity to share my traditions and culture through food, both at the restaurants and through Papalote Salsa. Had my family decided to immigrate to Hawaii, I would have probably ended up making pineapple marinades. Had they gone to Georgia I would have likely ended up making peach marmalade. As luck would have it, my Aunt Celia arrived in the late 50s, and she decided to open Celia’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco in 1960. 65 years later and three-generations deep, the family culinary history and tradition continues with dozens of Celia’s offshoots, including Papalote Mexican Grill and Papalote Salsas (Aunt Celia’s original Celia’s Salsa inspired us in the creation of Papalote Salsa, in fact, we use the same ingredients, though in different forms, and our recipe is entirely unique).I am so fortunate to live in California, and in such proximity to the vast Central Valley, with its unique combination of dry summers and mild, wet winters, and rich fertile soil from mountain erosion; this is the ideal place to locally source amazing garlic, superior onions, and tomatoes of unrivaled quality and flavor to create the ultimate expression of roasted tomato salsas. Garlic From GilroyWhole fresh garlic is a key ingredient in all our salsas.  Gilroy earned its reputation as the Garlic Capital of the World because of its agricultural heritage, at one point producing and processing at more garlic than any other city in the world, though other cities in California currently produce more. Still, the quality, expertise and tradition are undeniable. This agricultural heritage is supported by companies such as our provider, Christopher Ranch, a leading garlic grower and processor. https://christopherranch.com/Onions from OxnardFreshly chopped onion is combined with our whole fresh garlic as we prepare the foundation of our salsas. We source our onions from Gills onions in Oxnard. At Gills they emphasize high-quality products, innovative growing techniques, and sustainable farming practices, including waste-powered energy and solar projects. At a 5-hour drive on scenic Hwy 101, we can get our onions delivered the same day. https://gillsonions.com/Tomatoes from the California Central ValleyAnd of course, last, but not least, our tomatoes come from Santa Nella, in the California Central Valley. A two-hour drive away from Papalote Salsa HQ, Morning Star is one of the largest suppliers of tomatoes globally. They operate three factories with the largest production scale in the world with resources solely dedicated to tomatoes. They are actively involved in the global tomato industry and ongoing tomato research, and they have pioneered changes in production technology that have helped increase efficiencies throughout the industry. When life throws at you tomatoes that are this good, you must make salsa. I mean, you must! https://www.morningstarco.com/Created in San Francisco’s Mission District at Papalote Mexican Grill, with locally and mindfully sourced produce from California, and made in the Sonoma Valley… It simply doesn’t get more local than that.  https://www.papalote-sf.com/Most of our neighbors on store shelves are not even made in this country. And of the ones that are made in the USA, most haul their ingredients from out of state providers. And, you’re not going to believe me, but some of the salsas out there… are made in New York City!Papalote Salsas are the best California has to offer.¡Buen Provecho!Victor EscobedoChief Salsa Officer