MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A family-run local food truck is bringing the flavors of the Dominican Republic to the heart of Milwaukee, hoping to teach their fellow neighbors a little about the culture along the way.
From the traditional, like arroz con gandules, to the innovative, like their take on nachos with tostones, or fried plantains, El Sazón Dominicano food truck is serving up delicious dishes all across Milwaukee.
Husband and wife owners Ignacio Frias and Jessica Gonzalez say the inspiration for the business came from how their friends and family responded to Ignacio’s cooking, but getting it off the ground didn’t happen overnight.
“It took us a while. Took us a couple of years. We were thinking about it and one day we just said ‘Okay, you know, let's start getting ready, started doing business plans and start looking for classes,” said Jessica. “We just start working everything up to see if we can do it. We decided that we could. We started it and here we are.”
Ignacio’s love of cooking started out at a young age, growing up in Miches, about two hours away from Punta Cana in Dominican Republic.
“As a child, my father showed me how to cook. He would tell me, ’throw in a little bit of this, a little bit of that.’ He always said, ‘hopefully, this will serve you in the future.’ And look at us now, here’s our future,” said Ignacio.
That future started during the heart of the pandemic in November 2020.
Both Ignacio and Jessica were working full-time jobs while trying to manage building their passion project from the ground up.
“I was getting tired, I was getting exhausted. I know he was getting exhausted and I finally said, ‘we have to make the decision whether to keep going full time at our jobs or do this full-time,’” said Jessica.
Not too long after, they decided they didn’t want to juggle both, along with raising their four daughters, so they decided to take the leap.
Since then, they say it’s been a whirlwind, as their food truck has traveled across nearly all of Milwaukee County, picking up new fans and sharing their sazón along the way.
“A lot of people tell me, ‘There aren’t a lot of Dominicans here.’ I’m Dominican. I have to bring my culture here. If I don’t bring my culture here, no one will know who we are,” said Ignacio.
If you want to see where El Sazón Dominicano will be parking next, check out their Facebook and Instagram.
