Cocina Verde food truck on the road providing 100% vegan authentic Mexican food

Karen and Emmanuel García are a couple of entrepreneurs who have worked hard to make one of their biggest dreams come true.

As members of the Hispanic community, family is their fuel. It has always been a passion to cook and share their recipes with friends and family. After many recipes and family nights, they realized that there were hardly any food places that served 100% plant-based food in the area. Above all, there was no place that offered vegan food with the authentic flavor of Mexican cuisine.

Emmanuel has always been an entrepreneur; it is in his DNA as he comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Emmanuel worked in the construction business for more than 10 years and Karen served our country in the military for six years. Seeing an opportunity to become their own business owners and grow in the food industry as strong and independent minorities, they made the decision to do so.

Through a Facebook post they heard about the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Western Illinois University – Quad Cities (WIU-QC) and did not hesitate to immediately contact Ann Friederichs and Maria Ramos who guided them throughout their journey. "Ann and Maria from the SBDC helped us by getting things jump started. We basically walked into the office with an idea and walked out with a solid foundation for the business, a starting point. But most importantly I came out with confidence. The fear of not knowing what the next step was going to be or how to come about what needed to be done was gone," the Garcias shared.

Karen and Emmanuel currently own Cocina Verde food truck that offers authentic Mexican food made 100% vegan.

"Now we can spend more time together as a family, make our own hours, experience new adventures, all while sharing our dishes with our customers. We enjoy hearing customers complement our dishes and tell us how delicious our food is. It gives us great joy," the Garcia shared.

Finally, Karen and Emmanuel send the following message: "All you need to succeed is perspective and a dream. So success is within everyone's reach."

The Quad Cities Chamber partners with the Illinois SBDC at WIU-QC on providing outreach and services to minority-owned businesses in the region.