Knowing Your Neighbor: Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant

DULUTH, Minn. — “I am originally from Puebla, Mexico. I have a house in Washburn where all the family lives. I thought it was a great location,” said Nestor Tapia. “Me and my family come to Duluth every weekend, so I thought it was a great city to do business.”

Being the newest addition to the restaurant game in Downtown Duluth is never easy. But in the weeks since Emiliano’s open in late June, the restaurant has already won over customers.

“There’s more restaurants around here, but they’re not going to taste the same like this one,” said Sandra Velze, a first time customer. “This one is real Mexican. This one should be good.”

“We do everything from scratch, our sauces that burritos have or enchiladas have, they are not that spicy,” said Tapia. “But whenever they want to spice it up we can serve some salsa on the side.”

Emiliano’s is courteous to the average Minnesotan taste, offering a more relaxed Tex-Mex flavor. But for the more seasoned tastes Tapia explains, “I’ve been working with dried peppers with ghost peppers with habanero peppers. So we can really spice it up.”

But besides the memorable flavors, Emiliano’s is coated with Mexican history. 

“I’m a history freak in Mexican history,” said Tapia. “Everybody in Mexico knows about the Mexican revolution. And one of the heroes that came out of that was Emiliano Zapata.”

Emiliano Zapata is owner Nestor Tapia’s idea. Zapata was a Mexican revolutionary known for leading an army to fight for land reform on behalf of peasants in Mexico’s southern region.

But around the restaurant Tapia pay’s other homage to his ancestor’s and heritage. He hopes that people walk away satisfied from hunger and more informed about our neighbors to the south.

“I have a major in modern languages. In Mexico I used to teach English as a second language,” Tapia said. “That’s why teaching is still in my blood and I love that part.”

Emiliano’s plans on adding new menu items in the future, but for now, “Just try us and you won’t regret,” ended Tapia.