The Mexican hacienda-inspired restaurant that serves tacos y mas was built on three generations of entrepreneurship, tragedy and passion.
Without the efforts of two daring immigrants from Mexico, two sudden deaths and two aspirational sisters, Eddie’s Taco House Bar and Grill would not be in business.
Without the determination and grit of the Caballero family, a dream would have died in a small Westside food factory on North Laredo Street.
Eddie’s Taco House began in a cramped space inside Imperial Sausage Co. in 1976. It has expanded to two standalone locations that serve 10,000 to 12,000 customers each week.
As its 50th anniversary approaches in 2026, current owners Priscilla and Cassandra Caballero look forward and back, forging plans to expand and recalling the matriarchs who inspired them.
On Mother’s Day, the sisters will honor their late mother, Magda, and late grandmother, Maria, as they always do by closing all day Sunday and going to St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church.
“We feel the presence of our mother and grandmother, especially during this time,” said Priscilla Caballero, 37, the youngest of four siblings. “We continue our family tradition of going to church on Mother’s Day with our children and receiving our blessings from our church community.”
With the passing of Magda in 2020, siblings Priscilla and Cassandra Caballero assumed ownership and steered Eddie’s forward. They secured architectural plans for an event center, they’ve named Hacienda Caballero, adjacent to Eddie’s that will host weddings, quinceañeras and conferences.
“We promised our mom that we would fulfill that,” Priscilla Caballero said, “if God blesses us.”
Eddie’s is still recovering from the financial hit it took during the COVID-19 pandemic, Priscilla Caballero says, so Hacienda Caballero will take several years to complete. But there is ample ground on which to build at the Northside location.
Eddie’s sits on 1.6 acres on Thousand Oaks Drive, a decorative dome resting atop its mediterranean-tile roof. A main dining room, bar and private dining area occupy nearly 7,000 square feet. Hector and Maria Caballero never imagined such space when they emigrated from Mexico in the early 1950s.
In San Antonio, Hector worked multiple jobs to support his family, including one at the old Knowlton’s Creamery on Fredericksburg Road. Passed over for a supervisor position in favor of a colleague born in the U.S., Hector pivoted.
“That’s when my grandparents decided to open their own business,” said Cassandra Caballero, 48, the oldest sibling. “They made the decision to never have to work for someone else. They would make their own future.”
In the late 1960s, Hector launched Imperial Sausage Co., selling sausage and tamales to H-E-B and Handy Andy. In 1976, Hector’s son, Edward Caballero, began his own enterprise at the front of the food factory, known as a “molino.” He called it “Eddie’s Taco House.” Still in his 20s, Edward expanded to a second location on W.W. White Road, then started to build a third location.
Business grew. The future appeared bright. But before the restaurant was completed, an explosion from a gas leak at the molino claimed Edward’s life in 1980. Edward’s sister, Magda, moved from Houston to help. Four years later, Hector succumbed to cancer, leaving Eddie’s in the hands of Magda, the general manager, and Maria, the bookkeeper and cook.
Out of tragedy came fierce determination. Mother and daughter kept the molino and restaurant running until Magda opened Eddie’s on West Cevallos Street in 1992.
“I grew up putting stickers on chorizo packages and running around through the factory,” Priscilla Caballero said. “That was our second home. We grew up with our mother in the summers at Cevallos, working with her on Saturdays.”
Priscilla and Cassandra Caballero worked the drive-through. They washed dishes and waited tables. They befriended customers and developed a love for the business.
“I knew right around the time I was 15 or 16, that I wanted to follow my mother,” Priscilla Caballero said from a table on the North Side. “She asked me what I wanted to aspire to. I said, ‘I love the restaurant but I want to grow.’ So that’s when my mother, in the year 2003 or 2004, purchased the property that this location sits on and started planning the expansion.”
Eddie’s opened in 2011 on Thousand Oaks Drive, where it’s known for carne guisada tacos and its steak and enchiladas plate. Magda passed away nine years later after being diagnosed with ALS, leaving Eddie’s to her daughters. Her portrait hangs on a founders’ wall at Eddie’s, beside photos of Hector and Maria. The images stir memories, heartfelt and warm.
Cassandra Caballero remembers going to the W.W. White Road location at age 7 with her younger brother Joseph.
“As soon as we were old enough to follow directions, we were either bagging an order or making a drink for a customer,” Cassandra Caballero said. “To this day, I have customers from W.W. White who knew me at 7 and see me at Cevallos. We talk like time hasn’t even passed.”
Cassandra Caballero was there when the Cevallos location opened in 1992. She remembers 10 to 20 customers, and clearing $100 on the first day. Today, she sits in a sprawling dining room, marveling at the growth.
“I’ll take a moment to take it all in because I’m so grateful for all the hard work, the perseverance and the getting up every day and facing challenges and solving problems,” she said. “It’s a huge responsibility, as well as an honor, to be here. We take a lot of pride and do our best to keep our mother’s legacy growing.”
