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Everybody at all times has a seat on the Segura household’s dinner desk. Miguel and Lisa Segura, house owners of Miguel’s Artisan Recipes in Clovis, California, have been making do-it-yourself Mexican recipes for his or her buddies and neighbors for many years.
However when the pandemic hit and each had been furloughed from their jobs, they turned their ardour right into a enterprise. Lisa created a label, and utilizing Miguel’s mom’s recipes, they started delivering contemporary meals to family and friends by automobile.
When phrase unfold, the Seguras had been invited to serve their homestyle delicacies at pop-up occasions with Fresno Street Eats, a meals truck and competition venue. The corporate’s proprietor helped them get arrange with an authorized kitchen and pop-up tent. The subsequent yr, the tent became a meals truck, which lastly gave option to a storefront. Within the nook of a neighborhood comfort retailer, the house owners cook dinner meals for catered occasions and promote their well-known dishes and jarred salsas.
Contemporary recipes and a tight-knit buyer neighborhood earned the restaurant the #1 spot on Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the Central Valley – North listing in 2023. That is how Nathen M., senior neighborhood director at Yelp and Elite reviewer, found—and got here to adore—the Seguras’ enterprise.
“Their meals and jarred salsas are simply unbelievable and constantly scrumptious,” his assessment reads. “Their tacos are to die for, however lately I attempted their tamales, and it is the proper ratio of masa to tender pork. My Mexican mother-in-law, who could be very, very choosy along with her tamales, gave these a double thumbs up.”
The restaurant’s authenticity is a big purpose why Lisa and Miguel have seen exploding success. Benefiting from the agricultural neighborhood within the Central Valley, they supply contemporary substances each week to honor their household’s authentic recipes, which resonate with nostalgic clients.
“Some folks truly [say], ‘You simply took me again 20 years.’ That is the most important praise on this planet to me since you’re having my mom’s meals,” Miguel mentioned.
Although lots of Lisa and Miguel’s recipes have been within the household for generations, a key element of their success is their flexibility within the kitchen. Beginning out with a brief menu of staples, the house owners have thoughtfully constructed out their choices over the previous few years as they’ve obtained buyer suggestions. With a background in gross sales, Miguel understands the significance of actually listening to his clients.
“I’ve cooks and cooks which can be already in my kitchen now,” he mentioned. “All we’ve to do is locate out what meals you want.”
“We now have excessive expectations for ourselves, and we would like different folks to have good experiences once they’re consuming the meals,” Lisa added. “So how can I be higher? Constantly enhancing is a part of our tradition.”
Not solely are Miguel and Lisa receptive to suggestions however they’re proactive about making customer connections, desirous to share their meals with as many individuals as they’ll. Out and in of their retailer, the Seguras at all times ask regulars how they’re doing and invite new clients in to pattern their salsas.
One of many largest methods they attain clients is thru appearances on native TV channel Fox 26, the place they visit the Great Day Kitchen and placed on cooking demonstrations of their signature dishes. Past the display screen, Miguel and Lisa are concerned with a number of neighborhood initiatives, talking at conferences and with nonprofits about their path to entrepreneurial success.
“It is not nearly us making meals, it is about making a distinction, giving to different folks,” Lisa mentioned. “We’re all rising collectively. I really feel so blessed to be giving a part of myself, our cooking, and our household legacy to the neighborhood. I believe that Miguel’s mother would have mentioned it finest: ‘Convey all people to the home. Allow them to eat.'”
Miguel and Lisa’s pleasant customer service and neighborhood integration is what struck Nathen most about their enterprise.
“It is lots of work to be out and about on a regular basis and working a enterprise, they usually do it with grace,” Nathen mentioned. “Each time I’ve met them in particular person, there’s by no means a glance of ‘How can we do that?’ It is simply, ‘How are you doing? We’re excited to see you. Would you like some meals?'”
Having labored with each Yelp shoppers and small enterprise house owners for 9 years, Nathen believes these small interactions are the important thing to neighborhood success.
“One factor [that] has by no means modified in the case of pitching Yelp events is [that] your meals will turn out to be secondary. If folks can see you and establish with you and study just a little bit about you, they’re going to fall in love with you, and they’re going to wish to help you. And the way do they try this? By coming again to your restaurant and consuming your scrumptious meals.”
Nathen urges enterprise house owners to attach on a human degree with clients, even on days once they’re not feeling 100% or are coping with a tough particular person.
“Do not have a look at an individual who’s going to probably assessment you as your nemesis,” he mentioned. “You do not know what they’re strolling in from. Possibly the very best a part of their day is having fun with your sandwich or your taco or your gymnasium class.”
Nathen brings this similar degree of empathy to his interactions as a reviewer. When he has a detrimental expertise, he waits 24 hours earlier than writing a assessment, pausing to consider the particular person on the opposite aspect of the counter, who could also be pressured from making an attempt to make ends meet. When he does present critical feedback, he makes certain it is constructive and never damaging.
“Attempt to put your finest foot ahead on a regular basis,” he mentioned. “If the buyer and the proprietor took a beat earlier than instantly assuming one thing, there’d be a little less anger on the market.”
Along with neighborhood constructing, Miguel’s Artisan Recipes believes in:
- Listening to suggestions. Begin with a small listing of choices and provides your self room to develop your menu based on what customers want to see.
- Participating with clients each time attainable. Construct long-term relationships together with your clients by attending to know them on a private degree, each inside and out of doors of your retailer.
- Utilizing contemporary substances and genuine recipes. Spend money on the standard of your merchandise, and buyer demand will observe.
Hearken to the episode beneath to listen to straight from Miguel, Lisa, and Nathen, and subscribe to Behind the Review for extra from new enterprise house owners and reviewers each Thursday.
Editorial contributions by Callie Morgan and Kristi Lindahl
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