Today we’d like to introduce you to Mayra Peralta.
Hi Mayra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We started Calaveritas in 2019 as a way to prove that you don’t need to eat animals to enjoy delicious, authentic Mexican food. We did a trial run with tamales to see how people would enjoy the flavors with different fillings, and after collecting lots of feedback, we were surprised by how much demand there was for it. I knew that I myself wished I could go out and get vegan Mexican food, but at the time the options were almost nonexistent here. Veganism is at the core of our business, and as people’s interest in vegan options has grown, so have we. We really took off in the summer of 2020 when my sister, my friend Crystal and I started vending out an outdoor market off of Howell Mill Road. We developed a menu of tacos, antojitos and sides and decided that Atlanta really needed an authentic vegan taqueria. We’ve gotten an outpouring of love and support since then and have had many events with lines of 50+ people all waiting to try our vegan birria tacos! It has been truly surreal. Since then, we have been vending at many different breweries all across the metro area to give different crowds a chance to come see us without having to drive so far. We are super excited for what the future holds!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I can’t imagine any business owner saying their journey has been smooth! Haha. Especially not in the restaurant industry. There are so many challenges tailor-made for each of us. The thing about running a pop up is, you’re having to build an efficient kitchen outdoors multiple times a week, sometimes an hour away from where your equipment and prep kitchen are. That means that if you forget ANYTHING, you’re likely going to have to find a way around it or accept that you just won’t have it that day. After over 100 pop-ups, we have forgotten EVERYTHING at least once. Whether it was serving spoons, cheese, an entire batch of one of our proteins, plasticware, you name it. We have also gotten rained out on multiple occasions and forced to close, even had multiple tents broken by crazy wind gusts. Every day it’s something new, but it always makes us a little bit wiser. Wisdom is everything for us because we started this with zero experience. That has above all been the biggest challenge. You never know if you’re doing the right thing or making the best decisions, you just have to go for it and live with the results. Good or bad, they teach you so much about what to expect the next time you’re in a similar situation. In that way, we are building our business piece by piece every week.
As you know, we’re big fans of Calaveritas Taqueria Vegana. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a fully vegan taqueria pop-up here in the metro area. We are Mexican woman-owned and led! We are also immigrant-owned and led!
Food-wise we are most known for our crispy vegan jackfruit birria tacos, but we can still sell out even when they’re not on the menu! We have five different plant-based proteins (most of which are hand-crafted) and they are available in tacos, quesadillas, burritos and more.
Our mission is to keep our traditions and more animals alive, and we are so grateful that so many people choose to eat vegan tacos over animal-based tacos every weekend.
What makes you happy?
Being a voice and an ally for the animals who usually have their experience ignored makes us happy. Being able to feed people plants and have them genuinely love the food and tell their friends about us makes us happy. Sharing our own culture with strangers in an authentic way makes us happy.
Being an example for young women of color, especially other immigrants makes us happy. We don’t always grow up believing we can make an impact but we really can! Being a place where vegans or vegetarians can come and have great food makes us happy. They deserve delicious, memorable food, too.
These things bring us joy because they prove to us that we are doing something right. If we can make people fall in love with eating plant-based foods then they can begin to understand that an animal-based diet isn’t the only one that can bring you joy and happiness. Then they can walk away knowing that vegan food isn’t something to be afraid of.
Contact Info:
- Website: taqueriavegana.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/calaveritasatl
- Facebook: facebook.com/calaveritasatl
Image Credits
Jonathan Aguirre
