Family to reopen Mexican restaurant in honor of late son

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — It’s been nearly six months since the owners of Grand Rapids restaurant La Huasteca said they were forced out of the building.

“(The landlord) gave us 30 days to move out. We’ve been looking for a place to move in for the last almost six months. So it’s been hard,” restaurant owner Salvador Oliveros said.

Oliveros and his family are originally from Mexico but moved to Grand Rapids in 1999. After high school, Oliveros became passionate about cooking.

“I started working in some Italian restaurants, American restaurants, and then after that, we had the opportunity to open our own Mexican restaurant (La Huasteca) and that was open for about eight years,” he explained.

The loss of La Huasteca though, only added to the grief Oliveros was already feeling.

“Last year, on September 11, we lost our son, Iker. He was only nine years old. And then, as you can imagine, that was extremely difficult for us,” Oliveros said, fighting back tears. “It’s still really hard to think about it. And then, after dealing with that loss, five, six months later, the landlord decided to basically kick us out, you know? So there’s like, one thing after another.”

In the span of two years, Oliveros lost his father, son and livelihood.

“It’s been hard, I’m not going to lie. It’s been extremely, extremely hard dealing with my loss of my son and then, like I said, the restaurant, but the most important was losing a son,” Oliveros said. “He was the best. He was always happy. Always running around. He loved to be in the restaurant. He loved helping, talking to customers.”

It’s those customers, along with family and friends who have been helping him through.

“They’ve been supporting a lot, text messages, calling, ‘Hey, how you guys doing? If you need anything else, if you need anything, let us know. Hang in there. Hopefully, you get a new location soon.’ Everybody’s saying, ‘As soon as you open, we’re going to be there supporting you guys,'” he said.

Oliveros has been able to supplement some income through catering and selling tamales at the Creston Farmer’s Market, but the process of finding a new location took much longer than he anticipated.

“We used all of our savings, all of our credit cards,” he admitted.

A new location recently became available on the corner of Coit Avenue NE and Dale Street, but after finally finding a new place, Oliveros doesn’t have the money to open. Since many of La Huasteca’s customers knew Iker, they wanted to support his family in any way possible.

Chef Jenna, well-known owner of Amore, helped the family get a GoFundMe set up, which has raised more than $8,500 as of Monday afternoon. Oliveros plans to use the money toward a deposit on the new location and the first month’s rent.

The Oliveros are getting closer and closer to opening, but the restaurant will no longer be known as La Huasteca.

“It’s going to be Iker’s Tacos. I talked to the family and we all felt like it’s the right decision to honor our son,” the boy’s father explained. “A beautiful way to remember him… to walk in in the restaurant and see his face every day.”

Chef Jenna Arcidiacono, owner of Amore Trattoria Italiana, helped get a new logo designed for the restaurant, which incorporates Iker’s face and tacos, which he loved.

“Chef Jenna. She’s the best. She’s a really, really good friend… She’s part of our family,” Oliveros said.

The family plans to put a frame next to the logo inside the restaurant where every customer who helped in any way can sign their name.

“All this is going to happen because of them. Without their support, this will never happen. So they’re helping making our dream come true, and that’s like… we couldn’t ask for anything else. That’s just like, the best way to honor our kid,” he said.

Oliveros hopes to sign a lease on the building the first week of October but said he is still in need of some support.

“Any small donation will help us to make this come true and I just want (supporters) to know that once we open this is all because of them, for helping,” he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.