Spotlight: Nelly’s Taqueria
Nelly’s Taqueria is a Mexican restaurant located in the Centennial neighborhood of East Portland. All food is made in-house, including freshly prepared tortillas and salsas. The restaurant features a full menu served throughout the day, with breakfast available all day. Nelly’s Taqueria also provides catering services and has proudly catered events for local organizations such as Rosewood Initiative and Fox 12 News. Below, owner Oscar shares more about his business and the community he serves.
How do you feel Portland shapes or influences your business?
Oscar: The people of Portland and this neighborhood shape our business. We are located in outer East Portland and the neighborhood and surrounding businesses are very supportive of each other. There are local barber shops, neighborhood bars, and apartments all around us. We get a lot of local business from around the neighborhood.
There is a very strong Hispanic community and many Hispanic-owned businesses in the area. Unfortunately, in the last few months, ICE has been targeting Hispanic-owned businesses through enforcement actions. As a result, there have been business impacts. Our sales have gone down 60 percent. Our lunch used to be very busy. Many of the construction workers and other workers just don’t come out for lunch anymore.
If you could go back to the beginning, what would you have done differently?
Oscar: I would have learned more about taxes and how to run a business before starting one. I have learned more about accounting. I came in not knowing a lot about the business side of running a restaurant. I have always worked at restaurants, in the kitchen or running the front or the back of the house. Eventually I decided that I wanted to start my own business. We will celebrate five years in February.
What is your favorite part about owning a small business?
Oscar: Definitely cooking and experimenting with new recipes. I also really like being my own boss and getting the good feedback and comments from customers when they try our food.
What has been your biggest success to date?
Oscar: My biggest success is still being open. We opened up in February 2020, right before the start of the pandemic. Being a completely new business at this time with those levels of challenges, I think that it is a great success to still be open.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Oscar: My biggest challenge is managing the unpredictability of slow and busy days and not having a stable week. One week would be really busy and the next may be dead. It isn’t a consistent paycheck. When you are an employee, you know that you will get paid regardless, but as an owner, you don’t know.
What's your best advice for someone who wants to start or run their own small business?
Oscar: My advice would be to be really careful with your numbers and start with a solid plan. Learn more about how to run a business before committing to a business. When I started, I thought that it would be easier and it has been a steep learning curve.
