OUR STORY

How We Got Started

Before they even met, Everardo Fonseca and Karina Benavides knew what good Mexican food was all about. With roots in Jalisco, Mexico, their appreciation for homemade guisos started in an area rife with tradition and dishes that are almost too good to be true. The two can trace their passion back to large family get-togethers where everyone was welcome and no one left hungry. Their families were both led and fed by matriarchs who were masters in the kitchen.

On Sundays after church, Everardo’s grandmother cooked massive feasts for her family over a wood-burning stove. The love she poured into the food was infectious, inspiring her entire family and guests to stay for hours after a meal. Not far away in the same town, Karina inherited a similar enthusiasm for food, making patties for tortas de camaron by her mom’s side. To these two, it’s clear that food is more than just food. It’s packed with flavor, friendship, and fun.

Karina and Everardo opened Abuelita’s to show Richmond this side of Mexican food. Everardo’s mother, Victoria Hernandez, still makes the tamales for Abuelita’s on Sundays. When you walk into Abuelita’s, you are walking into a space inspired by the kitchens of the couple’s mother and grandmother. When you are at Abuelita’s, you are home.