The Burlington-based business entered the food truck industry after winning Food Network's Food Truck Showdown, and has found success with its handcrafted dishes made with fresh ingredients.
When Christopher Javier's friend was scheduled to audition for a reality TV show called “Food Truck Face Off,” he decided to give it a try. As one of hundreds who auditioned, he not only was selected as one of the contestants in a four-person tandem team, but he also won the show. The prize was a free one-year lease on a food truck.
“We realized there was a huge niche for tacos, and that's what we're known for now. We're known for our tagline, 'Super Tasty Tacos.' At the Hamilton festival, we were going to serve my mom's traditional food from the truck, but we didn't have enough time, so we made some tacos for the staff, and they said, 'Chris, these are the best tasting tacos I've ever had.' I went to the festival knowing almost nothing about the food truck business, other than the limited information and experience I had from TV shows. There was a line all night. We were blown away, and it just took off from there,” says Chris. This original taco is called Boca Chicken, and it's still our best-selling taco at 50 pesos.
The name 50 Pesos comes from Chris' mother, who started the business in 2003 selling food from his native Chile. “My mom was going to her first farmers' market in Mississauga, and she had a little cooler packed with salsas and empanadas. I remember calling her that day and saying, 'Mom, how did it go?' And she replied, with a slight Spanish accent, 'I sold 50 pesos. That's $50.' That was a lot of money for my mom, and she was so grateful that people were actually buying her food. We renamed it in her honour,” she says.
Chris says:
Chris says his mother was very health-conscious and built the foundation of the business on the philosophy of “I won't serve anything I wouldn't eat myself.”
Everything at 50 Peso Taco Joint & Food Truck is made by hand. They peel and cut every mango by hand, pickle their jalapeños and onions by hand, and make their own hot sauce. They use zero sugar, minimal seed oils, and the best meats they can find — their Boca Chicken Taco, for example, is made with slow-cooked, antibiotic-free, locally sourced chicken.
50 Peso also has a brick-and-mortar location at 4055 Harvester Rd. #5 in Burlington, called “Hole in the Wall Taco Joint,” and that's exactly what it sounds like: There are a few tables inside, and more outdoor seating in the spring and summer, but most orders are take-out. All of the food is made on-site, including the to-go items, which include fresh guacamole, mango salsa, and black bean dip. They also offer quesadillas, nachos, and fries.
Chris' original idea was to deliver tamales from a truck, but making them is a very laborious and time-consuming process. They still make tamales once a year and usually sell 800 to 1,000. They post about them heavily on social media because people are looking forward to sharing them with family and friends during the holidays.
“I believe that whole, real ingredients are best. Some people use the word fresh loosely, but we mean it,” says Chris. “Our ingredients are highly perishable. We make everything legally by hand and take great pride in that. I'm very lucky to have a team that believes in what we do.”
