DALLAS — Luis Olvera, owner of renowned Oak Cliff taqueria Trompo, has started a GoFundMe in hopes of saving his business.
Olvera said in an Instagram Live that his landlord locked the restaurant in the 300 block of Jefferson Boulevard last Wednesday.
“I owe my landlords $36,000. They’ve locked the doors, and if I can’t raise the money to wipe the slate clean, we’ll never reopen. I’ve had a couple business experts offer me the money, but the ownership stake and strings they’re asking in return will be unsustainable for my family, the GoFundMe page reads. “I feel torn and defeated. I’ve poured my everything into Trompo since we started in my back yard 10 years ago. We are fortunate enough to have become a staple in our community and would hate to lose the opportunity to serve our people there.”
Trompo started in 2014, with Olvera preparing tacos in his backyard. There have since been locations across Dallas.
“Since 2014, every single year, I have invested in a new property, a new project, trying to find my permanent home, trying to find my forever home for Trompo,” Olvera said in the Instagram Live video. “For a business to have to spend a lot of its time, resources, money into a location every single year, to try to just be able to operate, is a little challenging.”
“I can’t say that there will be another Trompo, or another attempt, another go at this,” Olvera added in the Instagram video.
The restaurant’s signature tacos are made with pork and cooked in a trompo, a rotating device where meat is cooked slowly over a fire.
Trompo was included in Bon Appétit’s list of the 50 best new restaurants in 2016.
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