Fillings & Feelings: Let’s Taco ‘Bout It

AUDREY CRUZ & ONLYPANS TAQUERIA

(6-minute read)

Amidst the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, countless businesses worldwide shuttered, leading to widespread job losses and the rise of home businesses and creativity. Through social media, especially TikTok, there was also the progression of entertainment and self-expression, with users showcasing their talents, sharing comedic skits, and participating in various challenges, fostering a sense of community and connection during uncertain times. Viral trends like Dalgona coffee, sushi bake pans, and ube cheese pandesals became a sensation during the lockdown, offering inspiration and potential entrepreneurial ventures for business owners steering the challenges of that tumultuous year, especially in the Philippines, where many sought opportunities to generate income and transition into self-made entrepreneurship.

One of them was Audrey Cruz, the creative brains and founder of Onlypans Taqueria. Just like how Filipinos are known for their wit and clever puns, the 26-year old girl boss joined in on the fun with its creative wordplay on OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform where users can sell and/or purchase original content. Similar to the social media platform, the brand is known and familiar, especially for its iconic Birria, which means “scrap meat”. In the heart of Poblacion, Makati, it's no surprise to hear "Tara Onlypans?" as locals & regulars invite their friends for a pregame or after-hours hangout, and many newcomers and tourists make sure to include this not-so-hole-in-the-wall taco joint in their list of places that they must visit.

*Photo by* *Morado* *for The Third World*

To know more about its humble beginnings, The Third World team sat down with Audrey, herself, in an exclusive one-on-one as she talked about the journey to create this well-loved taqueria, which initially started during the pandemic as a sushi bake home kitchen.

Q & A

Tell us how Onlypans came to be. During the pandemic, we remember you initially started with sushi bake, what inspired the shift to Mexican cuisine?

Before, I was just doing it for fun. It was the pandemic and then you can’t do anything extrovert-y. So, part of my hobbies and passions technically is cooking, but I never took culinary arts, but it was fun for me to do it because I get to send it to friends, and even people who are strangers to me and hear their thoughts. Also, at the same time, I was a marketing professional, and one of the things I learned in marketing was that - there’s always gonna be a fad - among those things was the sushi bake, which Onlypans was before.

Fast forward, I was already having fun with Onlypans and sushi bake, and I didn’t want to let it go, so I wanted to try and innovate it because I wanted to see the extent of where I could go with it. I thought, "What food do I eat when I need comfort and hits home?”

To me, and not to be biased, it was Mexican food, and I remember how I used to order from different Mexican restaurants and chains when I was sad or stressed. From there, I thought to myself, “Why not develop something similar? It might give me comfort as well.”, and that’s when I thought of developing Birria, which is what we specialize in.

Creating it was a journey because the ingredients were not as common as I thought they would be. I thought it was going to contain the regular spices, but I had to order everything outside the Philippines. So that’s where it started!

Aside from running a home business, Onlypans initially operated in La Union at one point, right?

Here’s a funny story about that. When I was starting to develop the recipe of Birria, I was also in a state of depression because of having to stay at home, and everything was just f*cked up outside. During that time, I had the privilege of actually going to La Union, because a friend invited me over there. It was also a time when a lot of the spaces [there] were for rent. So I found a super cheap space that was by the beach, and I dunno for some cliche reason - it kind of healed me from everything I was going through because it was a lot - like the ECQ, MECQ was a lot, and even hearing it now, it gives me PTSD.

That’s where I developed Onlypans fully, and my friends from Funky Quarters, a hostel and Mexican place in La Union, invited me to do a pop-up, and that’s where I decided - “Sh*t I want to do this! This really makes me happy, and I want to start it here.”

*Onlypans La Union – Photo from Audrey Cruz, 2021*

Back then, we were only serving two items on the menu - and that’s the queso birria tacos we didn’t let go of the Sushi Bake, but we innovated to make it aburi (grilled) - so it became a plated and naked sushi plate.

Yes, there was a challenge of limited funds and stuff, but there was the privilege to be in that timeline where everything was just cheap - the 8 square meter space I rented, and one of my best friends partnering up with me, so I was able to open the little Onlypans space at La Union. It was a one-year run until it was ECQ, then MECQ again [in 2021], and then there was a storm that hit the north so bad. Our store got destroyed, and that was a sad moment actually, and I was ready to give up. I still had a corporate job at that time, so I was just, okay, you know what this can wait.

After what happened in La Union, did Poblacion come into the picture then, and how did that happen?

Okay, so here’s the connection to that. When I was still operating the 8 square meter space in La Union, there was this group of lawyers who were on vacation and one of them heard my interview with a radio show called Boys Night Out, where I was telling them how I was living life in La Union and running Onlypans over there. They visited and came back, I think like 4 times because they liked the food so much, and then they messaged me and asked if I was open to a franchise, and I was like, “I could not even operate fully, so how am I supposed to operate a franchise?” So I asked them if they were open to partnering up with me and I told them I wanted to open, specifically, in Poblacion.

*5663 Don Pedro St. Poblacion, Makati (Year 2020, before Onlypans Poblacion) - Photo from Audrey Cruz*

Finding the space was another story though, because it’s hard to be here in Poblacion, only because it’s such a prime place and everything here is a competition, so all its spaces were up for bidding. When we found the space on the Ground Floor of the Vine Building at Don Pedro Street, where we are now, it was with the help of the owner of Let’s Eat Pare, Mark del Rosario, who connected me to the owners, but it wasn’t an easy journey. It was a half-year journey of actually getting the space because we had to bid, then do food tasting, and all that stuff. In most spaces - you deposit, pay the advance, that’s it - you get it, but in Poblacion, where everything feels curated, you had to do things and go through all that. So, we were so happy when the space got awarded to us, thankfully!

The construction side also took a bit, and I honestly had no experience working with contractors. I was able to work with some guys in La Union just for minor fixtures, but this was full-on construction because it was an old building, and the last tenant was maybe 2 years ago because of the pandemic, so everything deteriorated. There were also a lot of things like permits and BIR!

*5663 Don Pedro St. Poblacion, Makati (Year 2021, during construction) - Photo from Audrey Cruz*

One of the things I always want to talk about is the stress of opening a business, especially if you’re not rich. When everything’s out of your pocket, it’s so hard because everything is expensive, everything has to be paid, and even our speakers [in-store] - it had to have its own permits. So it was hard, it took us a year to be able to finish everything.

What inspired the design of the Onlypans in Poblacion?

So when Onlypans was being built, I always wanted to do an open kitchen type of space, only because - well it’s inspired by, the famous kiosks of Burger Machine or Angels Burger, diba it gets cooked in front of you and it’s fun to look at, and it gives a responsibility to your team to always be at their best because people will be watching you.

Also, I always wanted an open kitchen type that’s an eat-and-go, kasi this is a drinking area you know, people don’t really lounge, and are supposed to go to their respective clubs and bars. We’re not really a drinking place, like we serve Corona, or San Miguel for the vibes and to complete the meal, but I wanted to build it as a pre/post-drinking spot while building a community.

Now, fast forward to 2022, when we were able to build it, and we were just happy to be able to open it. So, I’m just really happy to see the brand coming to life, like it’s in Poblacion, Makati - it’s where I wanted to build it, and we were just really surprised to see a line stretching from Don Pedro to Kalayaan Avenue. It was really a time for us, and it was an experience because you get to meet every single kind and walk of life.

Let’s talk more about the Onlypans community. What are its main advocacies?

Onlypans is not just a Taqueria, but a brand, and a home for us. So, while I was building Onlypans Taqueria, I was building the community at the same time. I wanted the brand to embody what I value, which includes - LGBTQIA+ community support, social support, labor, and politics, which we were open about.

*Onlypans Katipunan – Photo from Audrey Cruz*

I personally felt I didn’t have the platform to do it on my socials. Since Onlypans gathered a platform with people following and its engagements, the important thing was that we were able to build the community more than anything, and that community consists of those same people who share the same values as ours, especially in our social and political stance, and to be able to support and speak of the things that are not always talked about. A lot of small businesses are also scared to speak up because of so many reasons, and I wanted to be that one business that speaks for them as well, not just for us but for them as well. Sometimes we’d see comments parang, “It’s so brave of you to do this”, but to us, it’s not because we wanted to show that we’re brave, but we speak up because we wanted to voice out those who were silenced.

Politics is connected with MSMEs especially, like I think we get less support from the government. That’s why my most recent post on Onlypans was about why people are not questioning the real issues out there, like how are we moving on from everything 2 years down the drain with the present president? As an MSME, we haven’t received any support, we’re paying our taxes, like we just paid ours last week, but also, we don’t feel that there’s a platform for us and I think that it’s important to talk about it, more than listening to whatever issue the past and the present president have.

Also, we’ve always been vocal and have been supporting Atty. Leni Robredo, and sometimes nga tinatanong ako ng mga tao, “Are you not scared?” We were honest about, and even before catering at the Angat Buhay NGO kasi, we were already supporting her even before we were connected (Share ko lang, she follows us!), and I wanted to share the blessing and privilege of support from my family [when she was running at that time] with our community.

I’m also from the LGBTQIA+ community myself, and we support that, not just because I am a part of it but also because I want to do something substantial and create a safe space for them. We also wanted to share our platforms with Drag Queens and work with them, because they deserve it. They’re amazing people, what they do is a work of art and we want people to stop thinking that they’re impersonators. I was also able to become friends with the Drag Queens, and I’m so happy to support them in the little ways we can. It makes us happy that a lot of people have supported them in our events, sobrang saya namin.

*Onlypans La Union – Photo from Audrey Cruz*

With the advocacies to support the elderly and youth, it’s really just the way I am and it’s actually our goal to create our own charity in the future, but right now, there really isn’t a big amount of support from the government, so we do what we can to help them, and we hope to do more in the future.

How do you deal with people who question those advocacies?

I think for me questioning someone’s advocacies questions your beliefs as a person, like why would you question someone else’s stand if you can stand on your own. The usual questions would come from dummy accounts, like it’s fine, if you don’t wanna use your own account right? but if you’re using a dummy account, then that makes you a dummy, also.

For us, we choose to continue to be honest, open, and out there and show what we do and what we support, and if others disagree, it’s fine. Someone’s advocacy is not your choice, and someone’s advocacy is not for you to decide. I don’t see the point in bashing and commenting, but if you question someone’s advocacy, then you should be able to stand up for yourself.

How did you deal with criticism and the keyboard warriors out there?

Aside from all the positive support, we got our share of negativity because a lot of people did not understand the pricing, and left bad reviews. I used to get hurt over those comments, but then decided to open up more and address things, like our pricing, and stuff. Since a lot of people did not understand the fundamentals of our pricing, I had to write about it and tell them, you know a lot of things are factored in such as social and labor aspects, because we push to pay above minimum kahit na maliit lang kami, we try our best to shoulder benefits and to give more than what is due, because they’re the legwork of our company.

So I had to speak up for my guys, because there’s no conversation about it, and a lot of businesses don’t talk about it. I don’t know why, they just don’t, and it’s fine, it’s their choice, but also, it was important for us to talk. You just don’t want to just open [a business], but you want to educate people and have them understand you, so you can understand them too.

It was surprising that other news articles were picking it up because I think they know it’s important and people need to understand better that if we were getting almost 100 orders everyday, do you think we’re gonna pay minimum [wage]? I think that’s not fair.

There will always be negativity, but over time, it’s not that I got used to it, it’s because I learned that some people really find it easier to bring you down, more than lifting you up. We even got a one-star review just because we didn’t have parking. In any industry, in any aspect, I came to understand that you can never educate everyone and never have them understand you. Out of the ten supporters you have, there will always be one dragging you down.

I also think I had the best team with me to help me through it all, they’re my inspiration, and managing Onlypans was able to teach me the reality of life. Before, we’d get reviews saying, “Oh, you’re not authentic.” and you find out these people really don’t know what “authentic” is because they haven’t been where our dishes originated from because we’re serving American/Mexican cuisine, and over those times I learned, even to the point that I had to fly all the way to Mexico. Like, I’m not a chef, I didn’t take up culinary arts, and I was coming from [a place where] I couldn’t afford to do culinary before back in my college years because it was too expensive. If anything, the best feeling was flying to Mexico and the United States and meeting successful people similar to me, a home cook, who had no culinary studies and they showed me that it’s okay to start anywhere, because we all came from different places and struggles.

I just wrote about it a couple of days ago, remembering when I first opened Onlypans, and had to deal with the comments about our food, and everything, turns out, we were doing just fine. Like, going back, People have had a lot to say, and yes, I can’t not admit that I didn’t get hurt, but also at the same time I took it as a drive to do more and create more, because that’s the only way to move forward from it. Building a brand is a choice, and the identity you want to share with the world, but our identity revolves around our story, and what we do.

You mentioned that you flew to Mexico, tell us about your journey there.

Going to Mexico was a journey I really thought of doing because Mexican cuisine is really something that I love, and I also felt like we were serving something important, so why not see things for myself, and understand where these people are coming from?

I flew 36 hours going there to meet locals that would teach me the process, and correct methods. I had a lot of questions in mind and when I was there, people were so nice and eager to tour me in the kitchen, even at one of the oldest Birria houses in Mexico. I thought it was going to be hard to communicate with them, but I got lucky because I speak a bit of Spanish. I was also able to go to Guadalajara, which is the origin of Birria. So even if Mexico City had Birria everywhere, I waited ‘til I got to Guadalajara because I wanted to experience Birria in its origin town.

Upon arriving at Guadalajara, I tried at least 10 birria places in 4 days, and I was so surprised that the taste of their Birria was so similar to what we were making back home, and we were doing the correct method. I was so happy because at least, it gave me that sense of validation that we’re doing something right.

It was a privilege to go to Mexico and experience that fun journey, and I learned a lot. I studied, recalled, and wrote everything, so I could bring all I learned from there, and when I came back from Mexico, I redeveloped the menu from there, since at the time we flew to Mexico, we were just focused on birria, quesadilla, and burritos.

How about your trip to the United States?

I flew there actually because my uncle was going to get married (he’s LGBTQIA+), and I knew that California is one of the biggest states serving Mexican food. I also explored the Mexican scene in California which brings me to this other story: their flavors are much more similar to ours [in the Philippines], because they’re on the saltier side. Mexico would be on the healthier side, because in the States, it’s cheesier and saltier, and they have bigger portions. It was fun, because everything I saw via Pinterest, from food trucks, and tacos on a paper plate, I experienced it all there.

But, I think one of the highlights was when I was in New York, I was able to visit Birrialandia, a known taqueria food truck, who gave us a warm welcome. When we told them about Onlypans and we were Birriaeria as well, they opened their food truck to us and took us through the process of how they cooked the Birria. It was a fun experience, we met the chefs and they made us try a lot of food for free, they treated us a lot, and I was so inspired. It also became one of the highlights as to why I was able to develop the menu fully because last quarter we launched the new menu, so it included Chicharonnes, and a lot of bespoke tacos, like our Don Pedro Tacos.

What did those journeys to Mexico, and to the US teach you?

Those journeys were important to me because I was able to pick up a lot, na there’s a lot out there. As much as I don’t want to say it, coming out of the Third World was something else, their process, privilege, resources are all different. I’m jealous they can just get chilis from the convenience store, meanwhile back home, we import everything, and I think it’s one of the stressful topics that isn’t brought up. If you serve Mexican, and use Mexican ingredients, there is no other choice but to import. Some people still seem to not understand it, because we even got bashed before for selling Mexican Cola, with customers/walk-ins mentioning that it should only be sold for 20 pesos.

More than that, I’m so grateful for those customers who love and understand us. It’s kind of funny that apart from the food we serve, they’re also in love with the journey and how we represent ourselves.

How do you deal with competition?

In this industry, I don’t think about competition, I see them as friends, and we respect each other - we’re same same, but different. Last Cinco de Mayo, we collaborated with 2 other taco places because part of my journey in Mexico made me realize this is a big world of tacos, and you shouldn’t be competing with anyone unless you’re a big chain. We’re just a bunch of taco makers, and it’s fun to gather once in a while. Ever since we started, there are a lot of taquerias that opened their doors, and they only focused on Birria, because it was the trend back then.

Also, I don’t look at other people and their taco places, I study our market and its people.

I’ll connect this to when I was an ex-athlete. I used to be a swimmer and my coach once told me, “kung titignan mo nasa kabila mo, mas lalo kang babagal.” So for example, it’s sprinting season, competition season, “pag titigin ka palagi sa mga katabi mo, lalo ka lang mabagal dapat yung tingin mo, pataas lang, forward lang.” If you get yourself distracted by things that don’t really matter to you, you’ll have a hard time progressing, but if you’re steady with your growth kahit even if you’re at a slow pace, keep at it. Progress is still progress.

Huwag kang matakot, especially if you have not earned much yet, or haven’t made it yet. A lot have asked “How did you start it all?”, like I really didn’t have the money back then, because people always think that you have to be a millionaire to build a sustainable business, or daming kang pera ganyan, but it’s really your concept, your brain that will be working on this more than anything. Growth is so important, whether it be 1% or 0.5%, growth is growth - everything else will follow with legwork.

What is contentment to you?

Contentment for me is being able to pay our people, the bills, because that’s really important. I’ve come so far, kahit andito pa lang ako, malayo talaga from what I used to do. My journey honed me to what I am now, that I do everything for Onlypans. People ask me why I don't get a team, but I thought to myself, it’s better if it’s me, because I am Onlypans. Even in marketing, events, public relations, I do work with my team, I let my brain to the work, because this is my bread and butter that I care for - it’s that important to me.

Also, it’s with helping others. Instead of having a Christmas party, we’d go to the Home of the Aged because it’s really what we do, even when we were small, cloud kitchen, we would take out a bulk of our earnings to also help out the ones that need it most.

What can we expect next for Onlypans this year?

Well, we’re opening our Whisky Bar in partnership with Johnny Walker called Cinco Barra, this February 17 beside our Onlypans store in La Union. Also, we’re planning to open in the South soon!

For our current stores, we’re working to create bigger events this year, especially at our Katipunan space, which is quite big and a privilege to be working with. You can also expect more developments in our menu, and the same advocacies from us, or even more, but what we are is still who we are.

Any tips for those aspiring to open their restaurant or upcoming business owners?

I think it’s gonna be a long shot, but one of the things that I always tell even my friends aspiring to open a space is this phrase that one of my best friends told me when we were flying from Siargao, “don’t fret.” So I always say that because it’s a big world out there, but also your mind is big. As dreamy as it could sound, you could do a lot of unimaginable things if you believe in yourself.. Aside from people who believe and have faith in you, it’s so important that you get yourself together. Mental health is important, if you take care of that, you can create things right?

Always listen to your guts and creative ideas, it’s always important because your own ideas make your business, you. It shows who you are, and how you think of things and it doesn’t hurt to read. It doesn’t hurt to learn more, and more than anything, it doesn’t hurt to listen. You can listen to other people but always listen to yourself. It’s important to be aware and know everything you do. You can learn from the internet - you can learn from there, and you don’t have to go to a school if you can’t afford it. You can learn everything, hindi lahat naiisa.

Another one of the key takeaways as well is huwag kang magmadali.

Don’t let things pressure you because it slows down your process; just go with your own flow. Building a business is not as easy as it looks like, you know. I thought that everything would fall into place once I got a decent location for my taqueria, but now that I’ve been in the industry for 4 years and counting, I’m still learning, that there are a lot of stressful moments that haven’t been discussed – especially when managing people, everything related with LGU, business permits, which was never easy to do, and it took me a over a year before I even got to open the flagship in Poblacion.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to start small, you don’t have to be big. You can start from where you are - doesn’t have to be prestigious, doesn’t have to be luxurious, lahat pwede simple lang.

Take risks, ganun talaga. From the start, when you decide to do it, you already took the risk.

So for me, my last statement would be - “huwag na huwag mong kalimutan, maniwala sa sarili mo. Period! Kung alam mo gagawa ka nang Birria, go for it!”

AUDREY CRUZ & ONLYPANS TAQUERIA

(6-minute read)

STORY BY SAM NUBLA & MAJ VELOSO

PHOTOS – MORADO (UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)