It happens all the time. A new customer at Tu Asador asks for a plate of fajitas. Or maybe an order of crispy beef tacos. Or enchiladas with yellow cheese and chili con carne.
“I’m sorry,” the customer is told, “but we don’t offer that.”
Tu Asador does not serve Tex-Mex. The Castle Hills restaurant serves steaks and dishes from northern Mexico.
The menu is replete with items you do not often see in San Antonio, the capital of Tex-Mex cuisine: tuétanos (bone marrows topped with chimichurri), costillitas al tajín (short ribs with limey tan butter) and tacos de filete y tuetano (tender filet slices topped with bone marrow), to name three.
“Everything you see on the menu is literally my mom’s and my family’s recipes,” said Tu Asador co-founder Regina González. “It’s everything we used to eat at home.”
In her youth, home for González was south of the border. She and her three siblings, all Tu Asador co-workers, grew up in Monterrey, Mexico. Their father, José Luis González, was a cattle rancher, and later, an English-Spanish translator. Their mother, Sandra Martinez, worked in real estate and ran a flour tortillería.
At age 6, José de Jesus, the youngest sibling, learned to cook steaks from his father. Father and son became designated grill masters. Mother served as top chef in the kitchen. The kids ate the food they now serve at Tu Asador.
When the family relocated to San Antonio in 2008, the backyard grilling continued. Carne asada became a staple after church on Sundays.
As the children grew up, they found work as waiters, bartenders and kitchen staff. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 left all of them unemployed. To pay bills, they began delivering carne asada to friends and family members from a ghost kitchen.
The venture went so well, they turned the ghost kitchen into a brick-and-mortar establishment. Tu Asador opened in 2021.
“We don’t fit in with Tex-Mex, and that has been one of the challenges,” said Regina González, who handles marketing for the restaurant. “We’ve had to change people’s minds about that.”
Mission accomplished: Tu Asador opened a second location in Encino Park in 2024.
The San Antonio Report sat down with González to discuss a range of topics, from bringing the flavors of Mexico to San Antonio to building a successful restaurant in Castle Hills, with no entrepreneurial experience.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you get into the restaurant business?
When I was a senior at Churchill High School, it was tough times with the economy. I had to help out. So my mom and I started working at El Bucanero. I was a hostess and then I was an expo, bringing out food to servers. And my mom worked in the kitchen. After that, I worked for almost 10 years in the industry. I was at Scuzzi’s, Palenque, Rosario’s, all over the place.
What inspired your family to start a ghost kitchen during the COVID-19 pandemic?
In Monterrey, it was very common for us to get together and do carne asada on the grill. When the pandemic started, we were grilling at home because that’s what we do. At the time, we were all in the restaurant industry, living off of tips. But the restaurants closed down. So we started plate sales. ‘Hey guys, we’re doing carne asada. Anybody want to buy some?’
Tell me about the ghost kitchen operation.
My brother was the cook. He was literally on the grill and taking classes at St. Philip’s College to become a chef. My mom did all the salsa and charro beans. My sister, Emilia, and I would pack the food and do the prep work. My husband and my dad were doing all the deliveries. I did the marketing online and took all the calls.
Did you get a lot of calls?
We were shocked at the response. We were doing deliveries within a 20-mile radius of San Antonio. We went almost all the way to Canyon Lake. We went to Alamo Ranch. We went to Boerne. We were going all over San Antonio. We created an Instagram account and started pushing pictures and they started getting very popular. We did that for a whole year.
What made you choose this venue in Castle Hills for Tu Asador?
We asked a good friend who is a realtor to find us a commercial space. We didn’t have a huge budget. He brought us to this place. And when we walked in, the tables were set with glasses. We went to the kitchen and all the equipment was there. It came with the rent. It was pretty much ready to go. And when they told us the price, we were like, ‘This is a steal.’ It’s like God is telling us, ‘This is your chance. This is the door. Just open it.’
You opened in May 2021. When did you realize Tu Asador had become a success?
We did a huge opening party on Mexican Independence Day (Thursday, Sept. 16). We had the mayor, a bunch of staff and neighbors from Castle Hills. We got a full house. By Sunday of that weekend, we had to close early because we completely sold out of products. And it just kept growing and growing from there.
How busy did it get?
We started having three-hour waits. The first time it happened, we couldn’t believe it. We had people lining up outside before we opened. It was like, ‘Hey, I think we’re doing something right. Let’s keep it going.’
You must have had some challenges that first year. How hard was it to fight through adversity?
It was hard. We were all working here. I was bartending 24/7. My brother was in the kitchen 24/7. My mom was in the kitchen 24/7. My two sisters were here. It was a learning process for everybody. We have a daughter and my sister has kids. We did have people complain, ‘There’s kids running around the restaurant.’ I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you but there’s going to be kids because they don’t have anywhere to go.
What do your sisters do? And do your parents still help?
Valentina is the administrator. She’s very good with all the banks and loans and permits. She was in Seattle and moved down to help. Emilia mostly works from home but when we opened, she did some of the front of house management. My mom’s still around in the kitchen. And my dad supervises and does a lot of the shopping for things we buy like meat and tortillas.
Did José finish culinary school?
He didn’t finish his studies because he had to be here in the kitchen.
What are Tu Asador’s most popular dishes?
Tabla de carne asada with charro beans and tacos Nuevo León. Our most popular appetizer is fried cauliflower and empalmes de chicharrón for people from Monterrey.
How did your family go from running a ghost kitchen to running a successful restaurant?
I think the only answer is God. This was very surprising to us. It was definitely not something we planned. Yes, we joked about having a restaurant. But we never actually planned it. The opportunity just presented itself. We are very thankful. We definitely feel blessed.
