Family Vibes and Sunny Smiles at Sazon Latino Restaurant

Maybe it’s the way the midday sun splashes off the cherry-red picnic tables out front, or the jumpy, danceable, modern-Mexican canciones coming out of the speakers. Or perhaps it’s the strong family vibes emanating from the servers to the cooks in what once must have been a home on San Andres Street. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of genuine smiles at Sazon Latino Restaurant in the heart of Santa Barbara’s Westside neighborhood, where Omar Mozqueda and Roberto Mendoza are serving a wide range of their home country’s cuisine to steady throngs of satisfied customers.

There’s no shortage of solid Mexican cuisine across the city — not to mention plenty of great, well-established options just steps away — so Sazon Latino’s ability to cultivate a loyal following points to something special. The pan-Mexican collection of dishes must be good, of course, and they are: pork shoulder tortas and chile relleno burritos; a range of seafood via ceviches, aguachiles, cocteles, and caldos; chicken mole enchiladas based on Grandma’s recipe; and the popular Plato Huasteco with carne asada, chorizo, green and red enchiladas, beans, and rice. The salsas, including cacahuate, are vibrant, and there are daily specials worth your attention, like caldo en su jugo on Wednesdays, pozole on Thursdays, Michoacan-style carnitas by the pound on Sundays, and, all weekend long, menudo, birria de chivo, and barbacoa de borrego.

But even more appealing is the combination of happiness and hope that Mozqueda represents. “If people want to start their own business, they can do it,” said Mozqueda, who encourages people not to be scared of taking risks like he did, and now enjoys working at his own restaurant alongside his mom with the occasional help of sisters and other relatives. “If we can do it, everybody can do it.”

Raised in Guadalajara, where he met Mendoza almost a decade ago while running a different restaurant, Mozqueda came to Santa Barbara a few years before the pandemic, working in kitchens for The Habit, El Pollo Loco, and the Rosewood Miramar. He lost his job at the latter when COVID struck, and he then started making meals in his kitchen at home in Goleta, selling them via Facebook.

Once that grew from 20 plates a day to more like 60, he moved into a commercial kitchen on Aero Camino, which is when Mendoza — who’s from the town of Ayotlán outside of Guadalajara — got involved. The company became a star of the Mexican-food catering world, serving weddings, quinceañeras, and corporate parties, and winning back-to-back “best caterer” honors from the Latino Business Awards in 2022 and 2023.

When Su Casa Fresh Mexican Grill closed in this San Andres location in early 2022, Mozqueda took the brick-and-mortar leap. They opened in April 2022 and have been busy ever since, said Mozqueda, who’s also proud of the Thursday-night live music, Friday-night karaoke, and other community-engaging efforts that Sazon Latino promotes. “We never thought that we were going to do all of this,” he admitted.

When I visited, Mozqueda’s mom, Veronica Gonzalez, who was working the register as usual, told me that Omar would be right back, as he was out running a delivery. (The to-go and delivery business remains a big part of the operation.) When he arrived, Mozqueda said hi to every person in the building, with a wide smile and friendly flash in his eyes. “We’re working for all our customers,” he said. “They all know us, and when a customer comes in, I know his name.”

When Mendoza escapes the kitchen to join us, he reminds Mozqueda that this was always a long-term goal. “This was one of my dreams from childhood to open a restaurant,” agreed Mozqueda. “I just never thought it would be that fast.”

417 San Andres St.; (805) 869-6228; sazonlatinorestaurante.com