We recently connected with Hector Casanova and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Hector thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Casanova Fish Tacos was born in March of 2009 after been laidoff from probation in December of 2008. This idea was born by accident.. you see, I used to do get togethers at my house during football season while in the department… but we got tired of the same food every weekend. One of my friends told us he would do fish tacos for the next gathering and we all agreed. As he was prepping and getting ready to fry fish, I started getting involved in the process of batters because honestly… we didnt get it right the first time. It took quite a few weekends of trial an error in friendly competitions to get a consisting and delicious flavor until everyone agreed I had nailed it! (by accident). This was put to rest and when I was let go of the department and things got stressful my friends pushed me to start a business doing fish tacos as everyone else was doing the same things. I told them I was not interested and they told me then you have to offer everything.. from meat to chicken… so I said…what’s the point? I would become just another taco company. So, after giving it thought… I said… let’s go for it. It was hard to come out with a name… but I knew my last name would have to be in it for sure. So, when I decided on Casanova Fish Tacos my wife brought up the point that it would discourage people who didnt like fish… and that my market would be considerably reduced. In my mind I wanted to be the in and out or Phils bbq of fish tacos. I started in the farmers markets, then the micro breweries exploded in San Diego so I got to do those as well. On my menu….only one item.. The baja style fish taco. Very quickly my business began to turn as not many people appreciated the fried option.. then I began incorporating grilled and gluten free options. I knew this was worthwhile after talking myself into seeing that no one else was doing it. I have to be honest and let you know that it was for the passion of the food or product.. I was on survival mode to pay my bills and support my family but now….. Its all about it! the pride of serving something unique, gourmet and that no one else has. Been consisting with the flavors is key. Its been 13 years since I started Casanova fish tacos and I am happy and proud of the brand and reputation I have. I have been a catering company from day one… gone through ups and downs and many, many learning experiences from success to almost shutting down and back to success again. I would not trade it for anything else. We specialize in one thing and we do it right. Now days my menu has expanded and we offer alot more but quality, presentation and most importantly the experience you get with us is what set us apart. Most of our business is now weddings and corporate events serving 100’s of people per event and also smaller parties and pop up events. My approach is if you say you are going to do something… do it.. sometimes all you need is an opportunity to showcase what you do and offer. I experienced knocked on alot of doors and sometimes I didnt eve get the time of day… but when I was give a chance… we came out and killed it! I love what I do and what I have created… if you would of told me that I was gonna be making tacos for the rest of my life….I would of said….Nah…. not me. Well this was a blessing in disguise for me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As I mentioned before, Casanova fish tacos was born out of necessity. I started developing ideas as to what direction I wanted my business to take. I wanted to be different, unique and be known for fish tacos. I am sure I am not the only one thinking like this… everyone wants to be different. In the last 13 years I never deviated from my concept.. my specialty fish tacos. Yes, I have added other options but they are also as dialed in as my fish tacos. I concentrate in creating tacos.. I am a tacologist. Not having any culinary experience, not coming from a family that has restaurants, not inheriting family recipes… all my tacos have been created by me and perfected by my friends, customers and fans. Nothing goes on ,y menu until is 100%. I am not a chef who creates something and its done. I need the feedback reinforce my creations. Casanova fish tac0s is a 13 year old catering company and we have been since day one. Every once in awhile i get an itch about maybe opening a brick and mortar but I am not quite there… I like the feeling of exclusivity and when people finally get to try they are sure to let us know what they think. “It was worth the wait”. When you hire Casanova Fish Tacos you get an experience from us.. from the time we arrive to the time we leave. Our set up is more upscale and we pride on our presentation. I have spent the time to do my homework when we come to your event.. from a color set up to blend in at your event or back yard, chef coats and aprons to the type of light we use for night events. Its been always in the details. We want people to have a baja style experience in the comfort of their event. We pride on the reviews we get, we appreciate when people come back to us to let us know that our fish tacos were the best they ever had. The brand I have created carries to the people that have heard of us a huge weigh as 95% of our business are referrals and word of mouth. Book something different for your next event and get a high-five in da mouth with the explosion of flavors we deliver.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
A story that illustrate my resilience…. oh boy.. I have many! lol.. but lets talk about the most recent one.. The Pandemic. According to my calendar of events.. 2020 was set out to be the best year for us. Little did I know the pandemic had another plan for me. For starters… the pandemic cleared all my calendar from events… and that completely freaked me out. So, no events and an uncertainty of what’s gonna happen. I have been all in with this business and with no events I had to step back and re think the process and how to get my tacos out there. One thing for sure was that people had to eat.. so, how was I going to deliver my tacos in a way that follow all the protocols and safety during that time. So i came out with a drive thru pop up event where we followed the in and out concept of walking thru cars and take orders from attendees. I also invited other friends with food businesses like mine to participate and deliver different types of food. There is a link on channel 8 where you can get an idea of what happened that day. So, the pop up were good but I needed more to keep my staff busy, to pay for the warehouse rent, utilities and my personal bills too. So then I created the family packs. This were boxes that included everything you need to make my fish tacos at home. Not only did we had them pre ordered and picked up on Fridays but we also shipped overnight to Texas, New York, Tennessee, Vegas, Florida, Arizona to name a few.. clients were having my tacos across the U.S. that was crazy! Then other restaurants started to copy my idea. I came out with the idea of the Driveway series.. these were neighborhood pop ups where my customers invited me to set up in their driveways and they invited the neighborhood to come out and order dinner from us of course following the safety and county guidelines. We ended up doing about 37 different pop ups all around the county and with turnouts of 150 plus people. I am all invested in my business… and I could not just fold and give up. Now I feel like we are bullet proof and we can survive anything that life throws at us.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
After been laid off and I knew I was going to go for it I didnt have that much money saved… but I did have a beautiful 1988 Chevy Blazer that was my pride and joy! Fully custom. As I needed capital I knew at some point I will have to let it go ands use that money to invest in the business. I tried to keep it until I couldnt justify it anymore. I started my business with a $40.00 dollar stove from the swap meet, a $60.00 dollar dish fryer and a $129.99 white canopy. I would do events and loaded everything on my blazer.. but its was lifted so it was hard to lift coolers, equipment and I knew that I had to let it go… so I did. I sold it and used that money to buy me a cargo van and a custom cooking taco cart that would make things a little easier. Everything I was making I immediately re invested it to the business and it went and on sometimes breaking even. Choosing the wrong events, false advertising from promoters me know knowing I had to take everything I could.. I needed to get my brand out there. As the time went by, i learned to ask the right questions and began making better choices when it came to choosing events. Sometimes I still make a wrong call with events… but not that many. lol.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.casanovafishtacos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casanovafishtacos/
- Facebook: Casanovafishtacos
- Linkedin: Hector Casanova
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kznovafishtacos
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=casanovafishtacos&find_loc=San+Diego%2C+CA
- Other: Instagram: Instagram.com/chefcasanova Facebook: Facebook.com/chefcasanova