El Cafecito

I'm outside on the patio at the cutest little place you ever saw on South Campbell.

I am at El Cafecito with one of the owners.

This is Shani Valdez, and she and her husband Christian own this cutest vibe this place has.

And I have so much to talk to you about, Shani.

We've been standing here talking for like, what, 10 minutes before we started this podcast.

First of all, are you from around here? Yes, I was born and raised in Bolivar.

In Bolivar, Missouri.

Okay.

I want to learn how you got into the restaurant business.

And I understand from your website, you are bilingual.

You're Spanish speaking also.

How did you get into that?

I started by working at some Mexican restaurants locally and picked up through the cooks there, started asking questions, started dating Hispanic, and just started learning from them.

I assume that's how you met your husband? Yes, exactly.

Okay, so I kind of figured, I put the pieces together, that maybe that's how you wound up getting together, and maybe that's how you learned the language.

So grew up in Bolivar, started working in Mexican restaurants.

Were you looking for a job as a young person, or did you just love Mexican food and think, I'd really like to work at this place and learn about the food?

Well, actually, I started going to cosmetology school over on East Sunshine.

Okay.

when they used to have the cosmetology school there.

And I applied for a serving position at the Mexican restaurant that was next door, just getting ready to open.

And they hired me and that's where it all started.

Is that where you met your husband at that job? Yep.

That's exactly where I met him.

You're

I'm outside on the patio at the cutest little place you ever saw on South Campbell.

I am at El Cafecito with one of the owners.

This is Shani Valdez, and she and her husband Christian own this cutest vibe this place has.

And I have so much to talk to you about, Shani.

We've been standing here talking for like, what, 10 minutes before we started this podcast.

First of all, are you from around here? Yes, I was born and raised in Bolivar.

In Bolivar, Missouri.

Okay.

I want to learn how you got into the restaurant business.

And I understand from your website, you are bilingual.

You're Spanish speaking also.

How did you get into that?

I started by working at some Mexican restaurants locally and picked up through the cooks there, started asking questions, started dating Hispanic, and just started learning from them.

I assume that's how you met your husband? Yes, exactly.

Okay, so I kind of figured, I put the pieces together, that maybe that's how you wound up getting together, and maybe that's how you learned the language.

So grew up in Bolivar, started working in Mexican restaurants.

Were you looking for a job as a young person, or did you just love Mexican food and think, I'd really like to work at this place and learn about the food?

Well, actually, I started going to cosmetology school over on East Sunshine.

Okay.

when they used to have the cosmetology school there.

And I applied for a serving position at the Mexican restaurant that was next door, just getting ready to open.

And they hired me and that's where it all started.

Is that where you met your husband at that job? Yep.

That's exactly where I met him.

You're