The team at La Tejana
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By Natalia Otero
Has your business been affected by the changes wrought by the presidential administration and the deportation orders? You are not alone. Thousands of Hispanic businesses are experiencing the same uncertainty. Learning from the experiences of others, such as Antonio García, owner of La Tejana, can help you deal with this distressing situation.
La Tejana is a Mexican restaurant and grocery in St. Louis, Missouri, which has been open for more than 16 years. García and his wife, Brenda García, also suffered the impact of Trump's policies following the ICE raids in January and February 2025.
Their sales dropped by half during the height of the ICE raids. People were afraid to go out, which meant that restaurants, specifically Hispanic ones, were the most affected. But, a month later, after uniting with other Hispanic businesses, the Garcías have seen sales in their restaurant partially recover and sales in the grocery store increase.
Intelligence in Investing and Having Savings
The Garcías’ strategy for surviving these difficult times has been to be alert and careful about what may come. With the current presidential administration, they note, everything can change drastically from one day to the next.
“Don't go crazy buying unnecessary things,” Antonio says. “Don't make big investments like you would when business is good. Right now we don't know what's going to happen, there's uncertainty. If the big raids come, business will decline again.”
As he explains, you have to be careful to only order what is necessary. And he also emphasizes the importance of having savings to be prepared for the times when money is not coming in.
“Thanks to the fact that we have savings for unforeseen events, during the week of the strike, I paid all my workers as if they had come to work. You never know, and it's important to protect your people,” says García.
United Community
The strike that García refers to was carried out by La Tejana and 50 other businesses in St. Louis. They joined forces and closed their businesses for a week, from February 11 to 18, in order to demonstrate the impact of Hispanic businesses in the city.
It was the women from a Salvadoran business, El Guanaco Taquería y Pupusería, who started the movement. The strike demonstrated that the Latin American migrant population contributes enormously to the economy and well-being of communities in the United States.
“In difficult times, it is important to persevere and unite to make demands,” Antonio says. “That way we were able to get attention. A lot of money was lost and it affected people. The impact was such that we appeared on the news, on Channel 4 and 5.”
The Garcías have always served the Spanish-speaking residents in their community. Their store includes a small office, where they offer advice and assistance to people who need to process legal documents in English. And the store itself offers products that their compatriots might need, from food to medicines.
“The community here is small and we all know each other,” he says. “Together we don't give up.”
The shop is like a home. García and his wife run it with great care and they empathize with their customers. So, during the ICE raids, they continued that. They helped protect people who were being persecuted and profiled. Social networks were a great tool for communicating with the community and achieving that unity and support.
However, García also was a target of hate. During the ICE raids and the strike, they received very painful hate messages.
“We saw that racism was tough. We received such harsh hate messages that I had to stop reading them and my wife cried. I told her to stop reading ugly things. But there was also something positive: We felt the support of many Americans who came to hug us, crying and apologizing for what was happening,” recalls García.
García recognizes that this is how business is: there are hard times and better times. The important thing is to persevere, or to know when to withdraw. Be very intelligent, and have the resilience to adapt to what the business demands.
“The one who has a business is already a winner,” says García. “It takes a lot of courage.”
It is true that businesses were affected by the ICE radis, but many are also getting stronger and, García says, some areas that were not so profitable before are now doing well.
For example, the shop's income is up 35 percent and the restaurant has recovered to 85 percent of its normal sales.
“After a month, the shop is selling more. People come to do their shopping or errands and take it home to cook,” he explains. “It's true that at the beginning it was a disaster, but now we are seeing the difference in a business that didn't do so well before and that can probably do better than before.”
Sidebar: Lamb from “La Santa” Martinez
The La Tejana shop supplies the community and the restaurant itself. The restaurant sells tacos and meat. The recipes are from the so-called “La Santa” Martínez, a woman who has been working with Brenda and Antonio García since they started. She is, as her nickname suggests, a saint in the kitchen.
Here we have a recipe given to us by her, with ingredients that can be found in La Tejana, so that the flavor is authentic.
Cooked lamb
The key to preparing lamb is in the seasoning.
You should season it with:
- Maguey stalk
- Garlic
- Onion
- Bay leaf
- Avocado leaf
- Sweet basil leaves
- Various dried chillies
- Banana leaves
- Salt
- Coriander
- And we add another couple of secret herbs (but you can choose the ones you like).
Leave to cook for at least five hours.
Serve with fresh chickpeas and rice.
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