along with another partner, started a food truck business. “We started with two tables, and the three of us worked together,” says Hernandez. “It was hard and tiring because we would open the food truck at night after we all finished our day jobs.” Recently, Hernandez and Peña parted ways with the food truck to start Bandidos Taqueria. The chefs explain how different it is to run a restaurant and how it gives them the freedom to explore and develop new dishes while keeping the legacy they built along the way. “Like the food truck, the opportunity fell from the sky,” says Hernandez. “In some ways, a lot has changed, but the concept is not completely different. The seven original ta- cos are still staples on the menu, but now we can do more. The dishes are more elaborate and the presentation is better, we can include more dishes and desserts, and the tacos are bigger now instead of the smaller street size.” In February of this year, Hernandez and Peña got in a van and drove around Chefs Juan Hernandez and Miguel Peña restaurant,” jokes Peña when asked what dishes guests can’t miss when visiting the restaurant. “But I do 100 percent recommend the veggie, fish, and pork belly tacos; also fish aguachile, shrimp coctelito, and, on the sweet note, the flan with palomitas.” Right now, all of their focus is on this one location, which has only been open since March 2022. But they confess to the dream of having a bunch of window spots spread around Miami, each of them selling only one type of taco. “If you want to eat the fish taco, you go to Photo courtesy of Bandidos Taqueria California to study local taquerias, and it changed their perspective. Combining their culinary backgrounds with what they learned, the chefs crafted a menu for the community they built in Miami. “If it’s up to me, I’ll offer the whole the beach. For Calle Ocho, it would be pork, and Brickell is for sure the veggie one,” says Hernandez. “It would also be a way to honor the food truck. Where we came from to what we have today.” Bandidos Taqueria. 7800 NW 25th St., #15, Doral; 305-530-8899; bandidostaqueria.com. Sunday through Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. RACHEL COSTA 15 15 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | miaminewtimes.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | MIAMI NEW TIMES NEW TIMES MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2, 2022
