El Indio - San Diego, CA
N 32° 44.537 W 117° 10.815
11S E 483113 N 3622731
This restaurant is located north of the San Diego International airport in San Diego, CA. There are two outdoor seating areas. Dawg chose to sit at the tables across the street from the restaurant instead of the seating area next to the restaurant.
Waymark Code: WM7X3N
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2009
Views: 10
El Indio was founded at the corner of India and Grape as a Tortilla Factory in August of 1940, by Ralph Pesqueira Sr. Fresh corn tortillas were made by hand. During WWII, customers from Consolidated, (Convair) and other nearby factories soon began asking for ready to eat lunch items. Ralph Sr. responded by making the “Taquito”, a word he coined meaning “Little Taco”.
Between 1945 and 1946, Ralph Sr. used his basement to make the first tortilla machine in San Diego . He increased production from 30 dozen tortillas per day to more than 30 dozen per hour and began supplying local restaurants. Ralph Sr. moved El Indio to its current location in 1947. In this small 25-by-75 foot location we sold many of the same Sonora style Mexican dishes we sell today. Our recipes were introduced and perfected by Ralph Junior's parents and grandparents. Ralph Jr. grew up behind the counter, and many long-time El Indio customers still greet him as “Sonny”. He took over the business in 1981 after his father passed away. He is currently grooming his daughters to follow in the family tradition.
Today, El Indio is well known around the world, having provided care packages to our soldiers while fighting in Vietnam and Desert Storm. Over the years many local politicians in Congress have requested these “El Indio Care Packages” to be sent to Washington . Even a couple of our Presidents have had occasion to sample El Indio food while in the White House. The Honorable Pete Wilson, former Mayor of San Diego, had many opportunities to enjoy El Indio food. We were honored to cater his first inauguration as Governor of California. (All text for this waymark was copied from the El Indio website.)