If there's anything that can bring people together, it's the aroma of a good, strong coffee and a dish prepared with love. That's what Robert Resendez and Nick Martinez offer at Masamigos, their new mobile taqueria in San Bernardino. The two entrepreneurs opened their business in September, but say they've wanted to work together for many years, since they both grew up in the Inland Empire and have been best friends since high school. “It was a great decision to settle in San Bernardino because, besides being from here, we've heard all stories or rumors about how bad the area is, but it's not all like that, so we decided to contribute something positive to the community,” said Resendez. Martinez says that for most of their lives, he and Resendez were inseparable; But after graduating from high school, he joined the army while Resendez studied music in college. “For years we couldn't find the right time, since we had different schedules and there was a time when we didn't live in the same state, but this year everything fell into place,” says Martinez, 34. At first, they considered following in the footsteps of Martinez's family business, which operates an air conditioning shop, but they both knew they wanted something of their own, something different. That's when, along with Resendez's fiancee, Pamela Cormier, they decided to combine their passion for coffee and Mexican tacos. “We wanted everything to be very simple and straightforward, just like us,” Resendez said. "We wanted to offer the purest form of coffee and tacos, to give our best with what little we had. We didn't want an overwhelming and confusing menu." At Masamigos, you'll find five taco options, including breakfast tacos, served on traditional yellow corn tortillas and filled with Mexican-style eggs, chorizo, and other fillings. One of their customers' favorite tacos is the barbacoa, prepared on a handmade blue corn tortilla and filled with beef slow-cooked for six to twelve hours in a guajillo ancho chile sauce.

They top it with spoonfuls of their green and red salsas, homemade pico de gallo, and a few drops of lime. With just one bite, you can taste the love put into each taco: simple to look at,but with an explosion of flavors and just the right touch of spice that makes you want to come back for more.

Both the coffee and the ingredients for their dishes are sourced from within the community itself.

The coffee comes from Paper Boy Roasting, a company based in Fontana, while Masienda's native corn masa is harvested in Mexico and sold on both sides of the border. “Being able to offer them something simple, but of high quality, is our priority,” said Martinez. Their recipes are simple, and the flavors are inspired by dishes they themselves have tasted throughout their lives, but also by the cooking of their grandmothers: Juanita from Guadalajara and Gloria from Mexico City. Pamela, Resendez's fiancee, is in charge of cooking most of the dishes with recipes based on what her grandmother taught her, while Resendez relies on her memory of dishes, also from her grandmother. "I recently lost my grandmother, so I'm always thinking about her. Many of the dishes on the menu remind me of the food she made for me when I was little: they were very simple recipes, with simple ingredients, but “Made with lots of love," recalls Resendez, who has adapted one of those recipes with his own touch. “The fried dough on our menu is inspired by her, because she always fried quesadillas by hand.” From the window of the restaurant, you can watch him take a handful of dough and roll it between his hands until it forms a perfect ball. Then he places it in the tortilla press, fills it with Oaxaca cheese and chorizo, seals it precisely around the edges, and fries it for a few minutes. The result: a bite crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. “We added it to the menu, and fortunately, everyone loved it and enjoys it as much as I did when I was a kid,” said Resendez. “It's also a way to reconnect with my culture, because growing up I felt like I had lost a lot of it and that I had become very Americanized, but as I've gotten older I've tried to connect more with my roots and honor them with the food we make.”

For the three of them, the mobile taqueria has been a dream that didn't come easily, but one they were able to realize together.

“I love doing this. I have the privilege of working with the two people I appreciate most,” Resendez said. “It's a great blessing to be able to do it with them.”

Hours

For now, Masamigos is open five days a week, closing on Sundays and Wednesdays. It is located at 324 W 40th St, San Bernardino, CA 92407