When Rodrigo Ordaz moved to Denver from Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2008 so his then-wife could attend college, he had no professional cooking experience, but he did dream of one day opening his own food business. Now he's the owner of a colorful four-year-old food truck named Jalapeño Business, which serves two of his favorite types of food: Mexican fare and burgers.
His first restaurant gigs were at Bull & Bush Brewery and Red Robin."I started working in the restaurants to learn how the business works — how the kitchen works, because sometimes people who serve food have the passion but they don't have the experience in the restaurant business and they make too many mistakes. So it helped me a lot," Ordaz recalls.While working at Red Robin, he remembers telling his boss that he wanted to buy a food truck.
Options include loaded nachos, cheese fries, quesadillas, tacos and churros. "My favorite thing is the chicken tinga," he says."I make all my food really good, but to me, it's the best because my daughter loves it. ... I got the recipe from a lady in Mexico. When I was in high school, there was a lady who sold tinga outside — I loved her tinga — and one day, I asked her how she made it. It's a little bit spicy and a little bit sweet. ...