OVERLAND, Mo. — Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the contributions and achievements made by Hispanics.
The month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
To highlight their influence, 5 On Your Side is focusing on those who are making an impact in the St. Louis area.
In this week's final spotlight, we feature a Mexican family who's been able to rebuild their business after a tragedy.
Angelica Lopez's parents are from Mexico and got married in California. That's where she and her three sisters were born. From there, her dad got a job opportunity in St. Louis and moved the family here in 1993.
A few years later, dad got another opportunity in another area, but they decided to stay in St. Louis to start their own business in Overland.
That's when their store opened up in 2003.
Lopez says, "We thought we needed something. When we moved here, there was only one store downtown. We would go every weekend to get tortillas and Mexican product. We wanted to have something closer, so everyone can have it down the street."
The store expanded three years later.
But they didn't stop there.
Shortly after, the family built a restaurant next door, calling it Taqueria Durango.
The restaurant focused on specialty tacos, such as tongue and tripe.
Yet, in early March of 2020, the restaurant and their family faced a horrific fire.
A kitchen fire broke out. The entire restaurant burned to a crisp.
"It was the hardest thing, it was terrible. It was 100% a total loss, it happened so fast, nothing to salvage," Lopez says.
After 11 years, the family's lifelong dream went up in flames in minutes.
Lopez said this was her parents' livelihood.
In an interview back in 2020, she said, "It just breaks my heart. It brings me to tears. They put their jobs aside to dedicate their lives to this and it's gone."
Fortunately, no one was hurt and their store next door suffered very little damage.
But in a moment of chaos, some hope shined through.
After serving the community for over a decade, the tables turned.
The community stepped up for the family.
A GoFundMe raised $14,000 and restaurants worked together to create a fundraising event.
"That felt amazing, we knew people liked our food and all that, but we were surprised in a good way of how great this community is," Lopez explains.
That's why when the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after, they also stepped up.
The family started doing food distributions to help families in the area.
"We did food distributions to give back because COVID hit hard and people were suffering," Lopez adds.
Even in the midst of a pandemic, the family didn't stop fighting and over a year later, Taqueria Durango reopened its doors.
In June 2021, it had its grand opening and the restaurant has been busy ever since.
"I think they like the variety of food and that it's a family business," Lopez tells 5 On Your Side.
She says, her family is tight-knit and feels that same bond with her community.
"I just love that part of our culture and we’re always looking out for each other. We’re so thankful for the support. We’re so proud to be here and have an amazing community around us," she says thankfully.
