The small, family-owned Latin American restaurant that’s occupied the just-wide-enough-to-walk space at 813 Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg for the past twenty years has always kept the focus on the food. Don’t let that fool you. The story behind Soup and Taco spans two continents, fifty years and offers up some delicious details into one of Fredericksburg’s longest running mom-and-pop eateries.
It’s a story that begins in early 70s El Salvador with twins Robert and Jose Gonzalez.
As two of the family’s six children, some of the brothers’ first and fondest memories were made in the kitchen. Robert remembers watching his Grandmother bake bread on the family’s outside “igloo” oven and how the experience first started to shape his love for both food and family.
“It’s amazing how the bread cooks in there…how they put all these logs in, heat it and sweep everything out.”
He remembers the treats of pork and tortilla given to each child by their Grandma, offered to them on a long metal stick and cooked exactly the way they liked it.
“This has to be the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” Robert reminisces.
At the age of 10, Robert and Jose followed their mother, father and older brother Freddie to Arlington, Virginia. A number of relatives would follow soon after.
The year was 1980.
The family continued to remain close after the move to America. Many of the Gonzalez’s relatives lived within walking distance and family meals, either on Saturday or Sunday, were a frequent occurrence. The twins’ mother Bertha would often cook for extended family, and Robert remembers her days off scouring shops to find the best ingredients for the next family gathering.
“That’s one of the things that she fought for…keeping everybody close. Mom’s cooking is always the best.”
Their early 80s upbringing in northern Virginia exposed the brothers to all types of backgrounds and beliefs. The twins credit experiences like International Food Days and the opportunities to try cuisine from different countries with being open to creative approaches in the kitchen.
At the age 17 and on the cusp of completing high school, Robert and Jose both decided to enter the restaurant industry.
Robert went to work with a cousin who managed a local Mexican restaurant in nearby Crystal City. Jose signed on as a bus boy at the RT Cajun Restaurant, another local establishment. Their journey deeper into the industry over the following years provided experience with a range of restauranteurs, and the brothers were able to learn the ins and outs of the business-side of the food industry. Both twins would discover different talents they brought to the proverbial table: Robert had a knack for identifying spices and flavors, while Jose gained experience with wines and Cajun cuisine. Meanwhile, their older brother Freddie was busy building his resume in Italian cooking, eventually opening his own restaurant.
After several decades of experience between them, the brothers began eyeing an opportunity to open their own eatery. In 2008 and during the throes of the Great Recession, the Gonzalez’s discovered a downtown Fredericksburg restaurant for sale.
Originally opened in 2004, the first few years of Soup and Taco included a limited menu of soups, tacos, quesadillas and chimichangas. Seating included a few stools under a bar in an emphasis on grab-and-go. After several years of treading water, the founding husband and wife team were looking to exit the restaurant industry, and the Gonzalez brothers were looking to enter. It didn’t take long for a deal to get done.
There was, however, one important seat left empty on opening day.
Bertha Gonzalez, the twins’ mother, sadly passed away during the summer of 2004, just a few months before her twin sons opened the doors to their restaurant. The twins were devastated but undeterred, and decided to use the new business to honor the memory of the woman who helped them discover their love for food and importance of family.
“She would have been there every day, just like with Freddie’s (restaurant)…” Robert reflects, remembering how his mother was a fixture at his brother’s restaurant in northern Virginia.
Under the Gonzalez family, Soup and Taco started off with a skeleton staff. Reina helped in the kitchen and Jose managed the front of the house. The family added additional seating (including two tables outside) and also slowly expanded upon the menu. The twins liked the same, so it remained the same.
To that point, Soup and Taco’s largest day to that point was $400. The Gonzalez family set the restaurant’s new daily goal at $500. Inflation aside, it was still a somewhat lofty goal.
“Back then it was like a ghost town,” Robert remembers of downtown Fredericksburg. After an initial 90 days he describes as “tough,” the orders began to roll in.
The restaurant slowly and surely established a loyal following amongst local diners looking for an affordable but appetizing option on Caroline Street. Business eventually grew to a second location, with the family taking over the American-style 806 Bistro on William Street, placing the newly-named Soup and Taco 2 halfway between UMW’s campus and the original location on Caroline Street.
The business has survived a number of ups and downs over the years. Some of the most significant challenges occurred simultaneously. Like many other businesses in downtown Fredericksburg, Soup and Taco did their best to manage the Chatham Bridge closure, political demonstrations and the pandemic’s public health measures, the latter of which brought the most uncertainty.
At first, the twins weren’t sure how to proceed and debated about closing the restaurant, but their cousin Reina insisted the businesses both stay open. The business was forced to adapt, with the family rearranged the dining area and Alba and Lilliana pitching in with deliveries and curbside delivery. Robert remembers patrons being thankful and wanting to support any business that stayed open.
“That’s when we learned how much we’re appreciated in Fredericksburg.”
Today Soup and Taco remains family-owned and operated, through and through.
Robert runs the kitchen at Soup and Taco, joined by sister Alba and cousin Lilliana, both familiar front of house faces to many regulars. Freddie and Jose manage the larger space at Soup and Taco 2 together. Staff include nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives, many who float between the two locations, as needed. Father Francisco also helps out, too.
The story that started in El Salvador appears as have its final chapter in Fredericksburg. Hearing Robert describe things, the family couldn’t be any happier than the city they now call home.
“It’s the perfect town to come in and open your own restaurant. Everyone is accepting and (is open to) becoming more knowledgable of different cuisines.”
Is there a Soup and Taco 3 in the works? Probably not.
“If we were younger, we’d probably open more businesses…but right now, we’re happy,” jokes Robert.
Disclosure: hyperbole has worked for Soup and Taco since 2019.
