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Not Just Another Bowl of Chips and Salsa
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Anonymous user Mon Oct 23, 2006 11:19:00 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments The lunch rush had just come and gone. Tom Munoz kindly greeted a couple while still keeping an open dialogue with the older gentleman he was cashing out. Munoz’s well-mannered customer service is obvious as is his dedication to his family’s well-established business. Shy in nature, Munoz doesn’t like to be in the spotlight; instead, he’d rather avoid it altogether. However, when it comes to running the restaurant, sometimes he just has to shine.
  Located on P Street, between 21st and 20th Streets, Sinaloas Mexican Restaurant is a well-known name among Bakersfield residents. In fact, the building it now resides in used to be known as the Kern County Children’s Shelter. Later, the building would also be home to a boxing gym, café and Italian restaurant.
  “There are some interesting stories of this building,” Munoz says. “Every now and then, growing up, a customer would tell us something they had heard or had remembered about the building. I think it’s great to be in such a recognizable place.”
  The family-owned restaurant has been passed down for many generations. In fact, the restaurant was originally established by Munoz’s grandfather, Vincente Valencia, Senior.
  Prior to the restaurant’s current location, Sinaloa was established in 1943 at 620 East 19th Street, the current home of Wool Growers. At this address, the restaurant was called Sinaloa Spanish Food. Five years later, in 1948, it was renamed Sinaloa Mexican Restaurant.
  “Mexican food was more pleasing to people than Spanish food,” Munoz says. “Some of the menu items changed as well.”
  The beautiful Georgian style home is a stone monument of a different time. Shaded by a gorgeous oak tree, this must-dine discovery is modest in size but has a more than adequate banquet room and upstairs bar.
  Munoz, being the middle child of six, takes great pride in his restaurant, perhaps even more so after his father passed away in June.
  “All the children have stepped in, in one way or another to make sure the business remains the same,” Munoz says.
  Tom started helping in the restaurant at age 15. He recalls his first introduction to the business as a busboy and laughs when he thinks about how long he has actually been “in” the business.
“Looking back it was just a job for me,” Munoz says. “I guess I didn’t look at it as something I would be doing now that I am older.”
  How much older?
 “Oh come on now, I’m not going to share all,” he says giving a little laugh. “However, when it comes to the restaurant I have done just about everything you can think of.”
  Some might say time goes by slowly, but Munoz says time has flown by for him. Every adventure, every customer a new experience he looks back on with great pride and satisfaction.
  “Our customers always keep me smiling,” Munoz says. “If it weren’t for them there really wouldn’t be a reason to be here anymore.”
 So, what is it that sets Sinaloa apart from any other Mexican food restaurant in town?
  French Bread.
  “We are the only Mexican food restaurant in town to serve Pyrenees French Bread,” Munoz proudly says.
  While the restaurant was located on East 19th Street, the center of the Basque dining scene and culture, a Basque patron walked into the establishment for a meal. After being offered the traditional chips and salsa, the patron said no. He wanted French bread. The next time the patron entered the restaurant for a meal, he brought his own bread.
  “My dad thought it was great and asked the man where he got his bread,” Munoz recalls. “The man said around the corner at Pyrenees. Since then French bread has become a customary treat for our patrons.”
  Another highlight of Sinaloa  is its continuous attention to detail to remain constant in food quality and flavor.
  “Sometimes we have to change ingredients or maybe we’ll try something new,” Munoz says. “But I can’t recall a time when someone has complained, so that makes me happy. That lets me know we are doing something right. However, we have had patrons leave because we were out of bread. That would make my Dad very unhappy so we would run to Pyrenees and buy more. What can I say, the people love it.”
  The food is great too. But surprisingly enough, none of the recipes are family secrets.
  “Growing up as a child we didn’t eat Mexican food,” he says. “We weren’t that traditional family with Mom in the kitchen all the time. We were very much fed from my Mom’s Betty Crocker cookbook.”
   So, what does Munoz recommend off the menu – you’ll never guess.
  “I have to say I am very partial to the Hamburger and Fries,” he says with all honesty. “I also really love our Fajitas. They are the best. The tamale is very good too.”
  Overall, Sinaloa’s is another staple of Bakersfield’s past that is making a very strong, very positive current impression. 

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