Backyard Tacos: From the backyard to the restaurant

By Thomas O’Brien

It’s more than just a clever name: Backyard Tacos’ style comes straight from the home of Ruben and Maricela Alvarez, who’ve brought their signature brand of Mexican food from their backyard into their restaurant.

Their food is “estilo de Mazatlan, Sinaloa,” Ruben Alvarez says. And with the help of an investor and a recipe that was given to them by his wife’s brother back in Mexico, Backyard Tacos has been able move their operation from their casa to 1524 E. University, at the northeast corner of north Hunt and east University drives in Mesa, exposing them to an even wider customer base.

 Ruben Alvarez said that they serve a wide variety of customers from police officers, fire fighters and city workers to people in the community and loyal customers that have followed them from the backyard to the restaurant.

Efren Peralta has been visiting the Alvarezes for their tacos since they were serving them in their backyard. Peralta said that the tastes of the tacos are la misma as they are back home in Mexico.

The taste and authenticity are some of the things that attracted Steve Beck to invest in the Alvarez’s backyard taco business.

Beck met Ruben and Maricela while they were serving “taquisas” in the original backyard to their friends, family and others in the community.

 “These are the kind of people I want to work with,” Beck said about the impression he got after meeting the Alvarezes. “They’re incredibly humble, hardworking people.”

 Beck is a commercial real estate broker who was selling what would be the future home of Backyard Tacos, but after tasting the Alvarez’s authentic recipe and seeing their huge following he decided to buy the lot and join in a partnership with them.

Backyard Tacos brings a simplistic variety to their menu based on methods native to their hometown.

 They serve only the freshest meats to their customers, preparing and sometimes remaking certain dishes just to keep their customers satisfied.

Their carne asada is marinated in its own juices with a little bit of sea salt and cooked over smoldering coals of mesquite. The aroma of the grill can be smelled from the parking lot once you exit your car.

There is no freezer in the restaurant, so all the meat is prepped and cooked fresh daily without the use of grease. Everything from the meat, vegetables and tortillas are cooked and heated on one of the grills.

The open, visible kitchen makes the entire cooking process observable to customers sitting inside the white painted brick building. The restaurant opened Dec. 26, 2012, Ruben Alvarez says.

He joked that the health department shut him down while he was serving tacos to hundreds of people in his backyard but in their new establishment they’ve got nothing to complain about.