Guadalupe Osorno ‘launches’ into business ownership with Boga Taco in Washington
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
After deciding to open a restaurant in Washington with three business partners, plans came together, with one sticking point: a name. “I make a list, didn’t work. Two days later my uncle (a business partner) says, ‘Look in the Bible at Luke 5:4,’” Guadalupe Osorno said. She hopes she can cast her net of hope wide, for all women in abusive relationships.
Photos: Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Eighteen years ago, Guadalupe Osorno packed up her kids and fled Mexico and an abusive relationship. Early last month, the now-U.S. citizen, who is remarried and a mother of eight, opened Boga Taco along Jefferson Avenue together with three business partners, including her uncle.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Boga Taco’s menu is refreshingly authentic, with fresh guac, sizzling fajitas and tasty tacos (your choice of meat) among the mouthwatering offerings. To drink, chefs concoct two flavors of agua fresca and horchata, center, a traditional rice, milk and sugar mixture so decadent, you may order the drink as dessert.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Tile, hand-painted by Boga Taco chefs, is among the splash of color inside the minimalist restaurant. These tiles were imported from Mexico.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Story has been updated to reflect the correct women’s shelter.
When Guadalupe Osorno fled Mexico with her children 18 years ago, she never imagined one day she’d be hosting a ribbon cutting outside her very own restaurant.
“Boga Taco means ‘launch out,’ into the deep, and catch a lot of fishes,” Osorno smiled Monday afternoon, surrounded by her family, friends and three business partners. “It’s not about me. It’s about all the people who have been helping me, who believe in me. They encourage me.”
Nearly a decade ago, Osorno left Toluca, Mexico, for a better life in America. She and her children settled in Canonsburg, where they lived in a better place but could not outrun rough circumstances.
“I came here in 2004, running away from an abusive relationship,” Osorno said. “I lived with an abuser, with the dad of the kids, we lived together for another seven years. One time, I asked my son, ‘Why are you hitting your sisters?’ He said, ‘You and dad do the same thing.’ That’s when I wake up and I said, I don’t want this life for my kids. I want something different.”
Osorno called the Washington Women’s Shelter, which offered her and the four kids a safe space of their own. Osorno enrolled in the Fresh Start Program, where Deborah Regets coached her in life skills and confidence, and made employment connections.
“At that time, we had a transitional housing program through a grant … for women that we thought had more potential and were really motivated to get out on their own and become independent. Many women did very well in it. None of them did this well,” said Regets, who attended Osorno’s ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday. “She has an inner strength, and I think it comes from her faith. When women are going through all that turmoil, the children sometimes fall to the side. Her children always came first. She might get torn up inside but … she just has that inner strength. She finds the calm. I think she really inspired other women.”
Osorno worked her way through the ranks of a local cleaning company (at one time she worked two jobs to provide for her children) and saved her money. Last year, she connected with a couple of cooks. Serendipitously, a woman Osorno knew from 19 years ago was selling her restaurant, and plans for Boga Taco fell into place.
“I had to educate myself how to do the business,” said Osorno, who worked with the Small Business Administration and Brent Rondon, from the University of Pittsburgh Small Business Development Center, to learn the ropes.
The business model was simple: delicious, authentic Mexican cuisine served with a side of joy inside the bright, minimalist restaurant. The service area has bold yellow tile, hand-painted by the restaurant’s chefs; the booths are cozy, cushioned wood with colorful, hand-painted plates above.
Bible verses decorate one white wall, and during the ribbon cutting, brilliant orange and red flowers in a vase sat nearby.
“Some people are sad. Some people had a very stressful day. I want them, when they come in and eat the food, (to) feel so happy. I want them to enjoy it,” said Osorno. “It’s not to do just a simple meal, I want them to enjoy and feel happy, to feel joy.”
Boga Taco certainly is joyful; the people and the food both authentic. Fresh guacamole, rice and refried beans are served on the side of sizzling fajitas; shrimp tacos and burritos burst at the seams to satisfy a Mexican food craving.
The drink offerings include a selection of agua frescas and horchata, a rice, sugar and milk concoction so delicious it might secretly be dessert.
It’s hard not to be happy in the restaurant, and Guadalupe Osorno couldn’t stop smiling during her ribbon-cutting ceremony as she chatted with family, friends and supporters.
“This is not just a survival story, this is a success story,” said state Sen. Camera Bartolotta. “You had a dream, and truly, this is the American dream.”
Osorno became a U.S. citizen last year, and since she escaped her abuser, she’s remarried and had four more children. One of her children is a college graduate; two others are enrolled in college, and the family is happy.
But Osorno will never forget her past, nor will she stop striving to serve as a model to other women who are walking where she once trod.
“I came here – I didn’t know how to speak English, I didn’t know how to drive. I just went to school to ninth grade. I didn’t want that life for my kids,” Osorno said. “My goal is not just to be a U.S. citizen. I wanted to be a model for other women that are right now in domestic violence. They don’t have hope, but there are a lot of institutions that can help them. They can do it, they can follow their dreams. This is a country of opportunity. I wanted to be an example for other women, that they can do it.”
Boga Taco, 1054 Jefferson Avenue, is open between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.