Food Truck Ownership Was the Path to a Better Life for Javier Quintero

"I moved from Mexico City when I was seventeen years old, about thirteen years ago. I wanted to have a better life. People don't make enough money over there, so I decided to come to Colorado and give it a try," says Javier Quintero, who now owns two food trucks, Que Desmadre and Mas Chingon.

"Since I was fourteen, I started cooking in Mexico," he recalls. So when he arrived in Colorado, he leaned on those skills. "I mean, that's the only thing I could do, since my English was not really good," he adds. "I worked for Sushi Den, then ViewHouse, and I used to run Tom's Watch Bar — I was the kitchen manager there. I worked at a bunch of places."

After being an employee in other people's kitchens for years, Quintero decided to venture out on his own, with a food truck dubbed Que Desmadre, which means "What a mess" in Spanish — and its beginnings were indeed a bit messy. "I started right when the pandemic happened," he says. "It sucked, because I invested all my money in one truck and then literally, within three months, the whole city shut down. l was like, what the fuck? That's crazy."
But as businesses began to reopen, Quintero came back even stronger. "When it was kinda safe, we got going again, and then we got crazy busy — like super busy," he remembers. In fact, Quintero got so busy that he recently decided to expand his business, launching a second food truck called Mas Chingon, or "more badass."

Both trucks focus on Mexican comfort food and offer similar staples, including one of Quintero's favorites, pambazo, a Mexican sandwich made with pambazo bread that's dipped and fried in a red guajillo chile sauce. "It's a Mexican burger, kind of," he explains. "It's really popular in Mexico City, like on the street with the vendors."

The chicken tinga tacos offered by Mas Chingon are a nostalgic favorite for Quintero. "We do our own special sauce for it," he says. "I basically make my chicken tinga tacos the way my mom taught me how to do it. It's really good, really special."
Now, with two food trucks in operation and business booming, Quintero often reflects on how far he's come and how his dream for a better life became a reality. "I live a different life, you know. Back then I used to go out and was like, okay, I can only go out once a week. Vacation once a year, maybe twice," he says. "Now it's like, I can go whenever I want. It's affordable. I can hang out with my family and buy them whatever they want. It's just different. Where I was and where I'm at now, it's like, wow — and I want to keep growing."

Quintero's next goal is to open his own bar. "I'm doing a tour of Mexico in May. I'm trying to bring a really nice concept from Mexico City to Colorado," he says. "I already have the idea; I just want to go and bring some recipes from Mexico."

To find Quintero's food trucks, follow them on Instagram @quedesmadrefoodtruck and @maschingonfoodtruck.