Authentic tacos and a green octopus help sell Tio Flaco’s

Every time Caesar Ruiz ended his work trips to Tijuana, he wished he could find tacos in Southern California like the ones he tasted in Mexico.

He was convinced that juicy carne asada tacos couldn’t be found north of the border.

Ruiz, who owns a construction company, asked his workers if they knew where to find authentic tacos near home, and all of them shook their heads, he said.

“I’d always go to taco stands in Tijuana, and you just couldn’t get a taco like that in Southern California,” said the 42-year-old Fountain Valley resident. “I took on that challenge to make the best carne asada taco around.”

Ruiz, along with friend Steven Dabic, began in December to brainstorm ideas for an authentic taqueria and opened Tio Flaco’s Tacos in Fountain Valley this month.

“No one really cooks over wood,” said Dabic, 29, also of Fountain Valley. “We do. It’s a whole hassle, and some cities don’t even allow you to cook over wood. But Fountain Valley allows you to, and that’s pretty key.”

Dabic said cooking the meat on wood enables it to absorb the mesquite flavor.

All the food is made fresh daily, the proprietors say.

“We’re actually making the food as you’re ordering,” Ruiz said. “As you pull up, we start throwing the steak on the grill. You’re not getting anything out of a vat; you’re getting it straight fresh. The tortillas are going to be pressed right in front of you.”

The owners said they’ve chosen to keep their menu simple, modeled after In-N-Out’s style.

“Once you start giving a lot of options, you don’t do anything really well,” Ruiz said.

The menu, with prices ranging from $2.25 to $6, includes carne asada tacos, carnitas tacos, mulitas, quesadillas and taco salads. Fresh guacamole is offered free of charge.

A green octopus named Templeton serves as the restaurant’s mascot.

“Everyone has a dog, bear or bird as their mascot,” Dabic said. “No one will ever have an octopus as a mascot, so we figured that would set us apart. Everyone always asks about the octopus, and that gives us an opportunity to talk about it and the restaurant.”

Months before Tio Flaco’s completion, its social media accounts were flooded with humorous videos of Templeton promoting the food.

One of the latest shows Templeton leading a police officer on a chase through Fountain Valley to Tio Flaco’s.

“I think what’s ultimately important to us is to succeed, and we know that there are a lot of establishments that open and just hope that people will find them somehow,” said Dabic, a software engineer. “But we think we have a sense of humor that appeals to a lot of people, and that humor spills into the marketing campaign that we have and gets people to know who we are.”

Ruiz said the goal is simple: to please customers.

“We want to give our customers a really great-tasting meal, ultimately, and see if we can open as many of these restaurants as we can,” he said. “I think what it all comes down to is we don’t want to start something then fail. We like to succeed. We think this is an avenue we can succeed well in, and there is a learning curve … as this process goes on. But we think a great product and great marketing is a recipe for success.”

If you go

What: Tio Flaco’s Tacos

Where: 18959 Magnolia Ave., Fountain Valley

Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 10:30 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays

Cost: $2.25 to $6

Information: tioflacos.com