It’s a New Day for Del Pueblo Café

Colorful, soulful energy abounds inside of Del Pueblo Café, despite the 27-year-old Mexican restaurant being rather hidden in a nondescript strip mall off of a sleepy, suburban stretch of Hollister Avenue. It’s been that way since Alejandro and Esperanza Arreola opened to much neighborhood excitement in 1997, when lines for their cuisine, much of it inspired by their hometown of Guanajuato, would snake out the door.

The buzz only elevated three years later when the founders passed the restaurant to their sons, Enrique and Alex Arreola, who expanded the space and packed it with the vibrant hues of Mexican folk art. Those mythological masks, skulls, snakes, and alebrijes became the backdrop for concerts from such Chicanx luminaires as Chicano Batman, La Santa Cecilia, and Very be Careful, fairly major bands today that graced Del Pueblo on their rises to fame in the 2010s.

Rekindling those heyday flames — they started dwindling a bit during the pandemic, which came soon after the 2019 death of Alex Arreola — is now the charge of Victor Camargo and Giselle Cuevas, who took over the restaurant from her uncle Enrique a year ago.

“We tried to keep everything the same,” said Cuevas, as we sat to chat in one of her booths recently, to which Camargo added, “Except what needed to change.”

“Everything is a lot fresher now; everything is day-of,” continued Cuevas. For instance, the guacamole is made in the morning for breakfast/lunch service and then in the afternoon again for dinner, said Camargo, explaining,” I want to serve people fresh food and good food.”

The twentysomething couple, who have been together for about seven years, are an unlikely pair to be running their own restaurant. Though her older sister, now a phlebotomist, started working at Del Pueblo Café when she was 14, Cuevas’s hospitality experience extended only to a Peet’s Coffee job during her SBCC days. (Her younger sister is studying neuroscience at Pomona College, so she was out of the running too.)

Camargo, who was born in Mexico City but raised in Carpinteria, was working in the trash business for MarBorg and as a landscaper for his uncle prior to this change in careers. “He didn’t even know how to flip a pancake,” laughed Cuevas.

With Enrique quietly ready to close the restaurant, the couple quickly made a deal to take over in November 2023. “Honestly, none of this was given to us,” said Cuevas, who signed her own five-year lease and inherited a good reputation and staff, but also plenty of older-restaurant flaws. “We’re basically starting over. We’re a startup.” They’ve since become intimately familiar with paying bills, cutting payroll, and dealing with landlords that won’t allow much signage to promote the business.

Victor, meanwhile, has embraced the culinary side of his heritage. “I come from a very poor family,” said Camargo, whose single mother worked 12-hour days across two jobs. “Everything I ate was homemade. Everything was always from scratch, nothing frozen or bagged or canned. I was always around good food without knowing it was good food.” His mother had learned to cook in part from her father-in-law, who hailed from Puebla and was rumored to have worked in prestigious Mexican kitchens.

Camargo’s mother helped the couple redevelop some menu items, like spicing up the green salsa, a recipe he’s since committed to memory. They’ve also empowered their veteran staff to spread their wings. “We give them a lot of freedom,” said Cuevas. “If they think something needed to be changed, we say, ‘Show us.’”

My recent tour through the menu began with steak ranchero, in which succulent strips of beef are simmered in a rich yet zesty sauce of bell pepper, onions, tomato, and cilantro. A jalapeño is splayed in the middle, with rice, beans, and a cheese enchilada on the side. It’s not a dish I would typically order, but I’d happily go for it again — the sauce was almost creamy like a luscious gravy, the meat expertly tender and nourishing.

I also tried their quesabirria — the cheesy, taco-dipping dish that’s not as common in Goleta as elsewhere — and then their mole enchiladas stuffed with plantains. Because those starchy banana cousins are part of their mole mix — along with a secret blend of seeds, nuts, chiles, and chocolate — they make an excellent centerpiece to the sweetly savory dish. “What really matters is getting good chiles and blending it long enough,” said Camargo of the secret to mole, which they prepare multiple times each week. 

And don’t forget the seasoning that is sprinkled on every dish. “That’s my grandpa’s sazón,” said Cuevas of the restaurant’s founder, who is still alive today.

The menu is loaded with familiar items found at most Mexican-American cafés, but there are some unique choices as well. Take the pollo enlechado, basically chicken cooked in milk. “I compare it to an alfredo sauce,” said Cuevas, “but with rice, veggies, and chicken.” There’s also the sizzling camarón encilantrado, which relies on both cilantro — hence the name — but also pasilla pepper to give a green vibe to the shrimp.

Inside, along with the vivid murals, hanging surfboards, and magical creatures poking out of the walls, the soundtrack is decidedly modern Spanish-language pop, not the rancheras and corridos of yesteryear. That energized vibe does seem to outpace the menu’s contemporary potential, so it will be fun to see what trendier dishes influenced by today’s groundbreaking Mexican chefs are explored in the years to come as they settle into the flow.

Cuevas is already embracing drinks in that manner. “Agua fresca is my specialty,” she said proudly, explaining how she makes at least one special flavor each week of the traditionally fruit-laced beverage. There’s often pepino-and-lime, but she’s also found fans in her more savory-leaning pecan and avocado versions as well. They can be guzzled straight up on ice, or mixed with agave wine to have a one-of-a-kind margarita. Her aguas frescas also star offsite at the Mujeres Makers Markets, which celebrate female-owned businesses at various locations and times throughout the year.

Cuevas is hoping to reinvigorate some of the artistic energy that made Del Pueblo so popular for her family in the past. That includes the Raíces Art Show on October 24, featuring jewelry, graphic art, flash tattoos, and more by a number of artists.

Mexican sodas are on the menu at Del Pueblo Cafe (left) and art that reflects the family’s Mexican heritage is on display | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Beyond that, they’re mostly trying to stay sane as new business owners in a cutthroat industry. “We’re just going day by day, and taking it as it comes,” said Cuevas. “We’re trying not to overwork ourselves and stress out about things that could happen. We try to keep a positive outlook. I hope we will be like Arnoldi’s, being open for many years and, even if something happens, we’re still okay.”

Stresses and long days aside, they’re enjoying the ride. “I really like it,” said Cuevas. “I’m introverted, but I love meeting people. And we meet a lot of cool people.”

Del Pueblo Café (in the Magnolia Shopping Center, 5134 Hollister Ave.; [805] 692-8800; delpueblocafe.biz) is open daily, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. The café is hosting the Raíces Art Show on Thursday, October 24, 6-9 p.m. See @delpueblocafe on Instagram for details.