Happy customers in front of the La Patrona truck.
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By Natalia Otero
La Patrona is a food truck in Washington DC that began in November 2023 by selling tamales from a street cart. What truly put the business in the public eye was its marketing: the choice of colors, social media posts, and most important, educating customers about the product. These strategies have been key to the exponential growth of the project in just two years.
El Restaurante spoke with Jennifer Ramos Aguilar, owner and the creative force of La Patrona, about the origins of the business, the secrets behind good marketing, and the importance of Hispanic restaurants adapting to the new rules of the market.
El Restaurante: I love that you do tamales. Tell me, where did the idea come from?
Tamales are a meal my family has for everything, birthdays, baby showers, quinceañeras. My mom and my aunt always made them.
So that’s why we decided to start with tamales. We’ve been in the Washington area for a while, and there aren't many vendors where you can get them. Sometimes there are home vendors who advertise on social media, “Hey, we're selling tamales for Christmas or Thanksgiving,” but that's it. That’s the only way to find authentic tamales in the area.
So we saw a gap and thought we could sell our tamales and also make some money. My mom and aunt are older women, so this was a good opportunity for them, too.
They’d go set up a little tamal stand outside a building, on the side of the road, and we’d all be there. It was a family affair. When we started, imagine a family having a BBQ on the street, that's what it felt like.
Tamales in the olla
ER: Was there any business plan for La Patrona in the beginning?
Not really, at first. By November 2023, tamal season arrived and people wanted tamales, so we decided to show up every weekend. Even after the season passed, we kept showing up, that was the whole point: consistency.
That was all we had, and little by little we started spreading the word in the community. Then we began to get media attention. One client who came worked for Univision, and others worked for the State, since we’re close to the airport.
So we got that organic attention. The more clients we had, the more tamales we had to make. We hired a cousin to help us, then another aunt. That’s how we slowly met the demand and grew the business.
ER: How did you move from a street food business to a food truck?
As demand grew, I realized this was serious we couldn’t just be out in the street forever. So I added signs and tents, and things started looking more official.
Little by little, we started doing what restaurants do. Over the course of six months, we grew the business, paid everyone, and had enough to invest in a food truck. That’s how we became more formal.
We live in Washington, D.C., and wanted to welcome all kinds of people, not just Latinos. We wanted to bring our culture to the broader community.
When we got the food truck, we painted it Pink, my favorite color. I knew we had to make it special and memorable.
ER: How did creativity and marketing play a role in the growth of the business?
Left to right: Jennifer Ramos Aguilar, Rogelia Valeriano, Irma Rios, and a customer at a pop-up event
I was inspired by the manteles we ordered online, the traditional sarapes. They catch people’s attention, so we decided to model the food truck like a sarape.
The cooks have the kitchen under control, they’re the experts. But I felt we also needed marketing. I have an aesthetic eye and a growing passion for marketing. I like to get inspired by things from our culture and bring that into the business.
So I thought, “We need to offer something visually coherent and nice on social media.”
A lot of other restaurants in the area make sure everything is coherent and the brand is strong. I felt Latino restaurants needed to adapt too, to have coherent branding that people can recognize.
People start to recognize you when you use specific colors and fonts that are unique to your brand. That became very important and helped us grow.
ER: How important is it to understand your target audience?
It’s super important. A tamal lover will always find tamales. The challenge is reaching people who don’t know what tamales are or have never tried them.
So I focused on them. That mindset helped us grow our audience.
I started making funny videos explaining what a tamal is and how you don’t eat the husk. I called them “Mexican protein bars.” That helped people understand the product.
It took time for the algorithm to notice us. February and May 2024 were really slow. We even thought we might have to stop.
So I started posting educational content on social media. That’s when Univision saw the videos I posted on Instagram and wanted me to make more.
Once that first media interview happened, it really catapulted us.
There have also been lucky moments, and I’m very grateful for them.
ER: Are you moving to a physical location?
Yes! In the parking lot where we have the food truck, there's a building where one of the vendors had a space. So this summer we’re going to start building the restaurant there. Hopefully, we’ll have the grand opening in early 2026.
We’re doing very well in terms of customers: loyal clients, organic growth, and foodies.
We’ve learned how to stay afloat and maintain success by balancing food costs and sales. It will be a challenge, but I think we’ll succeed, we already have a strong base of loyal customers, food lovers, and organic reach.
La Patrona Pork Tamales
Here Aguilar shares one of her family recipes.
Tamal Dough:
0.5 pound bag of corn husks
4.25 pounds of nixtamalized corn flour
2 cups of lard
1.5 tablespoons of salt
1 tablespoon of baking powder
8 cups of hot water
Tamal Filling:
1.5 bay leaves
2.5 lbs of pork chunks (pork shoulder)
8 Guajillo Chiles
8 Ancho Chiles
2 Pasilla Chiles
2 tablespoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
2.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Wash husks, and place the corn husks into a large bowl, pour hot water over the corn husks to cover them. Cover the bowl and soak them for 45 minutes.
Make filling sauce while husks soak. Add all of the chiles, and enough water to cover them in a large pot. Bring to a boil over heat on high. Remove the pot from the heat and let the chiles soak while covered for 20 minutes to soften them.
Drain chiles and put them in a blender. Add 1.5 cups of water, 2 teaspoons salt, and ground cumin. Blend until smooth.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Season pork with 1.5 teaspoons of salt and add pork to pot. Pour in chile sauce and stir in the bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat down to low, cover, and simmer for 2.5 hours until the meat is tender.
In a mixing bowl mix masa, salt, and baking powder. Once mixed, add in the lard and mix it together using your hands. Add water mixing for about 3 minutes until the dough is at a thick pudding like consistency. The dough should be soft and spreadable.
Drain the water from the corn husks and dry by gently patting them. Lay them onto a baking sheet.Spread the masa onto corn husks like if you are painting layers leaving the top third of the corn husk empty.
Place a spoonful of the filling in the center of the dough then fold together the long edges of the corn husk. Fold the pointed husk end up so that only one side of the corn husk is open and exposed. Repeat until all husks are used.
Fill the bottom of a large steamer pot with water. Place the tamales in the steamer pot with the open end facing up. Lean them against the side of the pot so they don't fall down.
Cover tightly with the lid and place the steamer over high heat. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 90 minutes or until the masa is fully cooked.
Remove 1 tamal from the steamer pot. Let it sit for 15 minutes. If the masa sticks to the husk, steam for 15 more minutes, then check again.
Once tamal comes off husk easily they are done. Let tamales cool down for 5 minutes outside of the pot. Enjoy!
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