Growing up in an atmosphere where food was a main source of creativity and family-time, Santiago learned from some of the best – her grandmother and step-grandmother. However, the journey to head chef is one Ale says she’s been working towards ever since she was a child. “I guess in a way, there still isn’t.”ĭuring the pandemic, Santiago sold her tacos in neighboring shops around the Oxford Square such as Uptown Coffee – known now as Heartbreak Coffee – before Evans asked her if she wanted to purchase the restaurant. “When I got here, I knew there were a bunch of Texans in town that were going to school and stuff, but it always shocked me and confused me as to why there weren’t any breakfast taco places for me to go and get one,” she said. However, the need for something more was always present in Santiago’s mind. She spent time in several different Oxford restaurants where she was a bartender and learner, including various restaurants within the City Grocery Group.
After leaving college, she embarked on a path that led her straight to the kitchen of Sleepy Cactus. No stranger to the restaurant industry and even the Sleepy Cactus building itself, Santiago spent time preparing food for the former building owner, Corbin Evans. From the option to add chorizo – a mexican sausage – into a breakfast taco, horchata cold brew, homemade queso dip, and even Chilaquiles – a dish known for its mixture of homemade tortillas, eggs, and salsa, the menu left customers wanting more the next weekend. The breakfast taco (y mas) restaurant – Sleepy Cactus – located on North Lamar Boulevard, exudes style and comfort to customers when they enter into the building, as 90’s country music and smells of everyone’s favorite Tex-Mex flavors flow easily through the front door.įormally known as Oxford Canteen, Sleepy Cactus officially opened its doors during Cinco De Mayo weekend, with customers invited to try a plethora of Mexican-inspired cuisine. As a young Latina and native Texan, Alexandra (Ale) Santiago opened the restaurant of her dreams in May of this year.
0 kommentar(er)
