Ask the Molina siblings, and all 12 of them will tell you the American Dream can be found in the kitchen.
Good cooking made them succeed in business – well, not just fine cooking, but more than 15 years of struggle, learning and exceptional teamwork.
Customers, they say, like to hear the story of the Molina family, founder of La Bamba, a chain of three Mexican/Spanish food restaurants in Broward County.
The three locations serve an average of 2,500 lunch and dinners on Fridays and Saturdays. Main dishes – steaks, burritos, tacos, fajitas and Spanish specialties – range in price from $4.95 to $11.95.
“We win people’s hearts. They become friends. They expect to see any of us around,” said Manuel Molina, who at 26 is the youngest brother.
They started in 1987 in a small storefront in Lauderhill. In 1991, they opened La Bamba II in Margate and expanded it and added a bar in 1993. In 1994, they opened La Bamba III on Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale.
Last year, the original place – fondly called La Bambita – was closed, and a new, better and bigger restaurant with a bar was opened on Sunrise Boulevard in Plantation. More than 100 part-time and full-time employees now work for the family-run restaurants.
It takes around $100,000 a month to operate La Bamba II, the busiest of them all, Manuel said.
He and Jose Molina, 45, the eldest, operate that restaurant. Manuel is the manager, in charge of the dining room, and Jose is the chef, in charge of the kitchen.
But before becoming entrepreneurs and before even finding jobs in America, the Molinas left their troubled home country of El Salvador and entered the United States through the back door.
Once in the strange land, as undocumented immigrants, they cleaned tables, washed dishes, helped cook, waited tables and worked seven days a week.
They still cook and clean, but now, they do it at their own business. All are now legal residents, and several are U.S. citizens. All except Reynaldo have families of their own with a combined 30 children.
The older siblings went to night school to learn English. The younger siblings went to college after graduating from high school. They all worked and saved money to have their own family business one day.
Dimas, the third of 13 children, was the first to flee El Salvador, the Central American country where a civil war was arising in 1978.
A year later, when the family was ousted from their land, the elder siblings – Jose, Miguel, Fidel, Juan, Isabel, Petrona, Rosenvel, Miriam and Angela – joined Dimas in California. Some later moved to New York.
After Isabel was killed in New York in 1981, all of them moved to Fort Lauderdale. Jose and Fidel found a job in the kitchen of a Mexican restaurant called Acapulco.
Miguel was hired to work in the kitchen of Chuck’s Steak House, and Rosenvel at Carlos and Pepe, a Mexican restaurant. The youngest siblings – Reynaldo, Manuel and Maria – came to Florida between 1982 and 1984.
From 1981 to 1987, all 12 siblings worked at various restaurants in Fort Lauderdale – some cooking, some cleaning, some washing dishes. They lived in three apartments in the same building.
Their homes are still near each others’ in Plantation. All of them, except for Angela, 38, work in the family business. Angela works in another restaurant, but her husband works for La Bamba restaurants.
Five cousins, two in-laws and several nephews also work in the business. Two siblings, Miriam, 43, and Juan, 40, went back to El Salvador and joined their parents.
Fidel, 36, as chef, and Rosenvel, 34, as manager, operate the Plantation restaurant. Miguel, 39, and Reynaldo, 28, using the same formula, operate La Bamba III.
Dimas, 41, also a chef, coordinates a network of relatives to substitute for his brothers during their days off.
They actually rest now. In 1987, after they opened the original La Bamba, none of them gave up their jobs in case the business didn’t work. Jumping from their jobs and their own place, they all worked seven days a week.
To start, Miguel brought his expertise in steaks, Jose, Fidel and Dimas their expertise in Mexican, Spanish and Cuban cooking. They put together their savings and bought a place that used to be a French restaurant.
Success came slowly, mostly through word of mouth and thousands of fliers. “God blessed us, and people liked the little place,” Manuel said.
Customers seem to appreciate the service. “I’ve followed them since they started in the small place in Lauderhill, and the food just keeps getting better,” said Sofia Craig.
