By Reynaldo Mena
One day, a corrido songwriter approached Santiago Laguna Calvillo, known as “Chago,” to ask for permission to include a phrase in a composition he was working on about his life.
“I would like to include that as a child, you wandered around here and there, running with your cardboard sandals,” he said.
Chago didn’t remember that. He had memories of the poverty-filled life he had lived in his childhood, but he didn’t recall that detail.
“I asked around, and indeed, as children, we didn’t have money for anything, and they made cardboard sandals for us so that we wouldn’t walk barefoot,” says the now owner of Tortas Chago, a very popular place specializing in tortas ahogadas in Los Angeles and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Listening to Chago talk about his life is immersing oneself in a very moving story, the story of a very poor family, seeking food every day but with a lot of pride.
“We were born in Santiaguito, Jalisco, near Tequila. My parents worked in the fields, but it didn’t bring in much income. If we managed to have food every day, it was a triumph for us,” says the successful entrepreneur.
His life is full of struggle, optimism, and a lot of faith.
“I firmly believe that everything that has happened to me in life is thanks to the King of Kings, God. He has guided me, given me what I have, but He has also put me through many tests, difficult situations that I have experienced and overcome. Everything has taught me a lesson,” he adds.
That humble and struggle-filled life built the caring and justice-driven character that guides his life. At the age of five, along with his parents, he emigrated to Tijuana. Their birthplace didn’t offer anything, so if they wanted to progress, they had to go to the border.
“With a lot of effort, we made it there. Tijuana wasn’t the city we see now; it was a very poor city, full of unfinished constructions, humble houses on the hills without the avenues it has now,” he adds.
There, he started studying and… working. His father, a carpenter by trade, found work and could support them for a while, but later, due to an accident he had in Guadalajara, he couldn’t work. His mother took on the role of provider, but being deaf and mute, she caused a lot of curiosity in the city.
“My father took care of us. She went to work in construction. She would build walls and dig in the ground. She did hard work. One day, she was working near the school where I studied, and the teacher told the whole class not to get close to ‘that lady,’ she forbade it. The teacher didn’t know she was my mother, during breaks, I would go to her, proud, and I would stay with her for a while to keep her company,” says Chago.
In his free time, he would shine shoes and wash cars on the streets of Tijuana. He had to contribute to the household expenses. Later, he expanded his offerings, got bags of “spicy candies,” and that attracted customers.
“Why are they spicy?” they would ask.
“They have tamarind. Try them,” he would reply.
And so, working on the streets, he began to build his vocation as a merchant and sandwich seller.
“With the money I earned from washing two or three cars and selling the candies, I could buy food for that day and my own ‘torta’,” Chago recalls nostalgically. “I had gone once to a ‘torta’ shop called ‘El Turco.’ That place made such an impact on me that I promised myself that someday I would have a place like that, and in fact, my current businesses resemble that place a little bit.”
He never regretted going to work. He knew there was no other choice. His life didn’t involve just going out to play with other children; his story was about survival.
His mother was a fighter, and despite not being able to speak or hear, she was hardworking and filled with love for her children.
“We didn’t know sign language, but we communicated with gestures. If we wanted milk, we would pretend to milk a cow, things like that,” he says.
The sad part of the family story was his father. He was an alcoholic and died from it. However, that tragedy also left him with a lesson.
“I believe that the situation we were living in and his illness defeated him. He dedicated himself to drinking and drinking. Years later, he was found lying in a ravine; we were already in Guadalajara, and they wanted to throw him into a common grave, nobody knew who he was. It was as if he said, ‘my life ends here.’ But he was a good father. I learned from that experience not to get involved with alcohol or drugs,” he says with consternation.
It is evident how firmly Chago attributes his entire life to God.
“Many things have happened to me in my life, many tests that prove it. During that stage in Tijuana, before returning to Guadalajara, my brother and I were walking, and out of nowhere, we found 800 pesos lying on the ground. With that money, we took the train and traveled to meet our uncles,” he says.
He joined his uncle’s work, selling ‘calabazas’. Those were years of further learning, between the ages of 11 and 16. Then, he started working in a ‘torta’ shop and learned the trade.
He had always enjoyed customer service.
“As my boss saw that everyone liked me, that they looked for me and sent me to different branches to attract customers, I said to myself, ‘if I can bring people in, why not open my own restaurant’?” he said.
And so, his first adventure began.
“It wasn’t luck; I owe everything to God,” he adds.
At the same time, he started getting more involved with the church.
“At the age of 16, I joined the church choir. But it was also a trick. The priest asked me why I was there, and I told him it was to get to know God, but… ‘ni madres’, I went to meet the girls in the choir,” he says, laughing.
In those years, according to his words, he truly met God. He went through three steps to reach the final one, to truly know and feel Him.
“That’s when you get to know the King of Kings. We think He’s far away, we think we can’t get to know Him, and we’re mistaken,” he says emphatically.
With his first business well established, the course of his life was set.
He wanted to get married at 18, but it didn’t happen. He tried at 23, and it still didn’t happen.
“It was as if God was saying to me, ‘no, no, no. Wait, she’s not the right one. She’ll come.’ I wanted to, but God didn’t,” he says playfully and sounding happy.
Years later, he met his wife, Patricia.
“She’s from Colima; we went to an event, and I saw her there, but nothing happened. Three years later, the same family contacted us, and there she was, she didn’t slip away this time,” he adds.
With his business well established, newly married and stable, many would think that tranquility had arrived, but it wasn’t the case for Chago.
“I told my wife, ‘we don’t need to move; we have what we want here, but I’m intrigued by going to Los Angeles and bringing our food to our fellow countrymen and making it known there,” he says.
He had a cousin in California who motivated him to migrate. He arrived with a tourist visa and later changed it to a business one. That was 15 years ago.
“It was very tough; I spent almost all my savings. I spent over a year without opening; I was fixing up the place, processing permits, everything was running out. But I didn’t give up. We Jalisco folks don’t back down. We go all the way. Finally, we opened, and I had only $1,500 left for promotion, to attract people. I went to the radio station and told them that’s all I had, they said it was very little money. But I had to do something. The radio host, Rocío Sandoval ‘La peligrosa,’ used to come to my restaurant to eat tortas ahogadas. I asked to speak to her, and she helped me. That’s when everything took off; she took us to where we are now,” he says.
His mother inaugurated the Los Angeles location; she passed away a few years ago but lived to see her son’s success. The years of wearing cardboard sandals, cleaning cars, selling spicy candies, building walls, excavating the earth, had passed.
“My mother, Lucía, was very happy. She expressed it by joining her hands to her chest and hugging me. One of the happiest things in my life was traveling to Guadalajara and lying down next to my mother, hugging her, expressing how much I loved her and thanking her for everything she did for us,” he concludes.
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