MOUNT VERNON —Maria “Lola” Avalos was practically born in the kitchen.
Avalos watched her mother cook around 4 to 5 years old.
“I wanted to cook so bad,” Avalos recalls.
“Don’t touch anything. You’re going to get burned,” Avalos recalls her mother’s warning.
Finally, Avalos was allowed to use the stove. By 11, Avalos was crafting big, traditional dishes from Mexico like spicy chicken mole.
“I remember my father couldn’t believe I made it because it was a big thing for an 11-year-old to make. And ever since then, they trusted me in the kitchen,” Avalos said. “I was the happiest girl in the kitchen.”
“Why don’t you open your restaurant?” Avalos’ kids asked her. But the opportunity never made sense until now.
With her brother’s help, Tony Avalos, she opened Lola’s Fresh Taqueria on March 7.
Located at 201 Columbus Road in Mount Vernon, Lola’s Fresh Taqueria offers fresh, hand-made Mexican street food options along with a bounty of drinks.
Lola’s Fresh Taqueria was a vision realized by Avalos.
“I wanted something little, nothing big,” she said. “I’m happy with what I have and I love what I have. I feel good that people get to taste my cooking because that’s what I love.
“That’s really my passion.”
When one walks into Lola’s Fresh Taqueria, it’s part restaurant and sudo art gallery.
The artwork was done by painter Rodrigo Oñate, originally from Queretaro, Mexico.
Oñate painted the restaurant from top to bottom, including the outside with vibrant color schemes, and hanging paintings on the inside along with his sculptured creations.
Tony Avalos, of Fiesta Mexicana on High Street, has been a part of several restaurants in the past — he’s never seen an opening as successful as Lola’s.
“This is the first time I have been surprised by the community as far as just loving the place,” Avalos said.
Part of the restaurant’s success, Avalos said, is because of the ingredients.
“I still remember when my sister Lola was making the order for the ingredients, she said I need this and this and that and it started to add up so many spices,” Tony Avalos said.
“I was a little confused because this is the first time that I have been amazed at how many spices she’s using in the kitchen.”
With the recent boom of success, Lola’s Fresh Taqueria is planning for the future by opening a patio with a stage with an unknown date.
One event for the patio would be “Lola’s party” where food is cooked outside with live music.
Lola’s Fresh Taqueria’s menu is expected to expand soon, with desserts and soups among the additions.
With these additions coming soon, expanding the customer cap outside doesn’t scare Lola, she said.
“Have I ever gotten tired of cooking? No,” she said with a smile. “I can do this all day, every day.
“When you do something with love, you can do it all over.”
This independent, local reporting provided by our Report for America Corps members is brought to you in part by the generous support of the Knox County Foundation and Kokosing.