Taco Cabana's Chief Operating Officer, Todd Coerver recently had the pleasure of spending some time with one of the original founders, Lynn Moody. Lynn's father, Felix Stehling started it all 35 years ago at the corner of Hildebrand and San Pedro, in San Antonio, Texas. We also had the pleasure of interviewing his peer, Cappy Lawton, the first contractor and a couple of the original employees. The stories are priceless. It all started in the stucco building located directly across the street. It housed a very popular 70's bar and grill called the Crystal Pistol, owned and operated by Felix Stehling. The original building was an abandoned Dairy Queen and an empty Lone Star Ice House located next door. Felix leased both properties, primarily for bar parking. But it virtually drove him crazy to have two buildings sitting idle, not producing income. Felix hit on the idea of selling breakfast tacos and other simple Mexican fare at the old DQ building during the day when the bar didn't need the parking. He recruited his wife, Billie Jo, step-son Lynn Moody and his wife Susy and other family members to help with the project. Being a very persuasive individual, Felix also managed to get the head cook from his favorite Mexican restaurant involved, along with her recipes. Everything on the menu was made fresh right there at the restaurant. It was the only way they knew how to do it. Pots of rice and beans, prepared from the cook's family recipe, simmered on the stove. Fresh tortillas were patted out by hand. Salsa and pico were made from freshly chopped produce. When you looked in the kitchen, it resembled the typical home of an abeula in San Antonio, because that's exactly what it was. Both the Stehlings and Moody's love to vacation in Mexico and those trips inspired both the décor and the name of the restaurant. "Taco" was a given. After all, that was the #1 item they would be selling. Billie Jo added "Cabana" because it reminded her of all the relaxing times they had spent at Mexican beach resorts. All the chairs and tables for the restaurant were purchased during multiple trips to Nuevo Laredo and hauled back, stacked high in the bed of a pickup. When the restaurant finally opened on September 21 in 1978, it was an immediate hit. Especially for the breakfast crowd. You could enjoy a fresh bacon and egg taco plus coffee for 50 cents. The most popular item, bean and cheese tacos, were only 29 cents. Locals flocked to Taco Cabana for great, cheap Mexican food. Originally, the plan was to only stay open from 6am-2pm. But because the crowds kept coming, closing time got later and later. The big leap for Taco Cabana happened when they decided to keep serving around the clock. At the time, Earl Abel's was the only restaurant in the area you could get a meal after midnight. Taco Cabana filled the void, giving late night diners and those on the night shifts at local hospitals a place to go. It also ended the pesky problem of having their patio furniture stolen in the wee hours of the morning. The crowds got so large, the staff couldn't keep up with adding salsas, pico and jalapenos to orders. So for their own convenience, Lynn decided to set metal pans with the salsas, cilantro and other condiments on a table out in the restaurant and invited customers to help themselves to customize their food to their own tastes.Today, the famous TC Salsa Bar is the centerpiece of every restaurant. And all the salsas and pico are still handmade fresh, every day right in the kitchen of each of our restaurants. Felix believed in putting on a show. He wanted the food preparation to happen where people could see it, not hidden away in a back kitchen. After all, if you're making it fresh, why not let people see it being made. All the meat grilling, tortilla patting and salsa chopping was done in full view of customers. When beef and chicken fajitas were added to the offerings, Lynn's wife, Susy, recalling something she had seen in Mexico, suggested serving them on a hot metal skillet. Sizzling fajitas skillets became a signature item at Taco Cabana. As you can see, the Stehling family didn't begin with the goal of building a world-class restaurant chain. Only with a desire to create a friendly, casual, neighborhood gathering place. A relaxed destination to savor great, affordable Mexican food crafted from authentic family recipes that still lives on today at over 160 locations throughout Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

• published: 19 Sep 2013
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