The youngest of seven kids, Gabriel Zamarripa spent much of his formative childhood years in the kitchen with his mom, cultivating his love for cooking. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, he immigrated to Santa Cruz at age 14, saying he loves the area and the not-too-cold/not-too-hot weather. His first of several restaurant jobs was at Burger King, and eventually a fire grew in his soul to start his own business, which he did with Taquizas Gabriel four years ago.
Following a classic trajectory, Taquizas Gabriel went from pop-up to catering to food truck to a permanent space in the Capitola Mall. Gabriel defines the cuisine as traditional meets modern Mexican: His mom’s recipes are the foundation, with creative touches added by Zamarripa and his wife.
The birria—juicy, slow-cooked beef that draws rave reviews—is available in tacos, burritos, tortas, quesadillas, nachos and fries. The Baja tacos are another hit, limey and fresh beer-battered white fish, pico de gallo, cabbage and their “famous” chipotle aioli. Street tacos are also available in chicken, carnitas, carne asada or al pastor, with three housemade salsas: red, green tomatillo and spicy habanero. For dessert, the conversation starts and ends with fried-to-order crispy and crunchy churros filled with vanilla cream.
How did your previous experience inspire you?
GABRIEL ZAMARRIPA: Over the years working at several places, I noticed other people couldn’t handle the pressure of a kitchen very well. But for me, I loved and embraced it, and challenged myself to have the discipline to make every order perfect and execute the food consistently. I really found myself becoming a leader and wanting to run my own kitchen. There were definitely struggles on my way to owning a successful business, but I made it and am very proud to be here.
Chat about your catering.
We started by doing small parties and eventually moved up to bigger events like weddings. We got such good feedback and were often asked to expand our menu, so we now allow our clients to somewhat customize the menu to their liking. We obviously offer great Mexican food, but can also cook Italian cuisine and recently did a Hawaiian menu. All our food has a Mexican influence, but we like to be challenged to diversify our flavors.
1855 41st Ave., RO1, Capitola, 831-475-1954; taquizas-gabriel.ueniweb.com
