Hispanic Heritage Month Series: Q&A w/ Sonny’s Barbacoa & YOLA

By: Jessie Chrobocinski  Photo by: Rachel Benavides

Continuing to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we asked local restaurant owners about the cultural background behind unique dishes, their favorite traditional meals, what Hispanic Heritage Month means to them, and more. Throughout the month, we’ll be sharing these conversations with you all! In our second round of conversations, we have Tray Hoskins from Sonny’s Barbacoa & Restaurant and Ryan Rios from YOLA cocina Mexicana.

Sonny’s Barbacoa & Restaurant, Tray Hoskins

Jessie Chrobocinski: How does Sonny’s help you stay connected to your roots?
Tray Hoskins: I’m cooking my parent’s and grandparent’s favorite meals: fideo, arroz con pollo, Carne guisada. I’m doing that every day by being here. Then by being able to do that and serve our customers the way we do helps us stay connected. That’s how they did it for us. They were always in the kitchen cooking.

JC: What do you hope your business provides to the community in terms of culture and food?

TH: I hope it keeps them connected to their roots. Hopefully, by us providing our food, this keeps them grounded in the sense of what they grew up with, and they too can remember those things.

JC: What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean for you and the restaurant?

TH: Well, here in South Texas, it’s almost an everyday deal for us, but being that it’s Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ll see an increase in people coming in besides our regulars. It makes me feel good to provide that stuff where people go home, especially during this unfortunate time. We’ve been in a pandemic where people couldn’t go into restaurants for a long time last year and part of this year. So we had a considerable increase in business because people picked up food and went home to share a meal with their family.

RR: I think it’s a great time of the year where we can be extra in showing people our food and our culture. For example, we have Mariachis. When I think of cocktails with strong Mexican flavor influences or my favorite dishes on the YOLA menu, along with the music that we hear in the restaurant, I feel like we’re almost transported to Mexico for an hour for a night.

JC: How does YOLA help you stay connected to your roots?

RR: YOLA reminds me of the food that my grandmothers would make, both of which are from Mexico. Our goal is to connect people to the traditional flavors found in Mexico. One of my favorite neighborhoods in Mexico City is the Polanco neighborhood. When I’m in YOLA, I [am reminded of] the nights I spent in some of the most beautiful restaurants and some of my favorite neighborhoods in Mexico City. We want to continue introducing new offerings, whether from the bar or the main entree or even our desserts. One of our most popular desserts that are not on a restaurant menu anywhere is called the Carlota, and it’s a Mexican version of a key lime pie. We have a fun twist this week on our Carlota by adding the mango flavor. So just ways to consider being creative and showcase some of the flavors that we love from restaurants from Mexico.

JC: What do you hope your business provides to the community in terms of culture and food?

RR: We’ve been open for less than a year, and when we opened, we kind of hit the ground running. Finding time to be creative in the kitchen has been challenging. Still, we’ve stepped it up a little bit to think of new menu options, expand the menu, or maybe bring in specials that can showcase some of the different offerings that you would find throughout Mexico.

JC: What is your favorite traditional meal and why?

RR: I’m addicted to the al pastor tacos. I probably have one every day, but my favorite meal is the fideo, but it’s called Sopa in Mexico. That’s my favorite meal because it reminds me of my childhood. Although I grew up here in Corpus Christi, it reminds me of my grandmother and my mother. To me, it’s Mexican comfort food.

YOLA cocina mexicana: 3818 S Alameda St • 361-334-0020