Eat, Drink, Savor: Mmm Churros and keeping the faith

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Dressing up like the Grinch to make Christmastime deliveries was not Mmm Churros owner Mike Jones’s idea. But his wife, Priscilla, insisted and that was that. 

“At first,” he said. “I did not want to get into that suit. We were going into the holidays and brainstorming ideas. She said, “No, let’s do it,” and it evolved from there. She bought a Cindy Lou Who costume and everyone loved it.”

As owner Mike Jones talks about the past, present and future of Mmm Churros, there is a palpable feeling that his late wife, Priscilla, is still with him and part of the conversation. He is quick to credit much of the success of the venture to her energy and creativity, and his faith in her has kept him going, holding down the business and raising his three children since the October 2024 traffic accident that took her life.

“Knowing what we had started,” he said, ”I couldn’t let it go. As much as I didn’t want to, at the time, I just had to come up with the strength and say, ‘OK, we’re going to honor her and move forward with what we dreamed about and talked about.’”

In an often-told origin story, Mike said that the idea for the business came during a family trip to Disneyland when they were served truly mediocre churros at one of the park’s concessions. 

“We come from Eastside San Jose,” Mike said. “We knew what an authentic churro tastes like, and we thought, ‘It doesn’t taste like this. We slowly thought about, ‘Let’s come up with a recipe, let’s come up with a brand, let’s come up with a business model,’ and that’s what we did.” 

The couple spent nearly two years perfecting the recipe for the vegan churro dough. In a 2020 BenitoLink interview, Priscilla said that it took around the same amount of time to develop the flavors of the sugars they use—the one thing they liked about the Disneyland churros.

“We had a cherry one out there,“ Priscilla said, “and we could not stop thinking about it. So we worked on making the flavored sugars until we found a way to make them taste the way we like.” 

Priscilla came up with the name of the business while working her night shift as a 911 dispatcher, calling Mike very early one morning, saying, “I have a name. I know the name. I’m going to tell you when I get home.”

“She said, ‘Mmm Churros,’’’ Mike said. “And from there, that was just it. We were sitting on the couch, watching TV with the kids. And she had her notebook out, sketching, and she actually drew the logo. That’s her handwriting.”

Working under the California Cottage Food Law, the couple opened their business in July 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since they had always envisioned Mmm Churros as primarily a delivery-only operation, they were not affected by the closures that impacted other businesses. And Mike being laid off from his job with Coca-Cola gave the couple more incentive to expand.

“It gave me a choice to go all in with the business,” he said. “So it kind of blessed us with that opportunity. I would make the dough and do all the frying, and my wife, when she would come home, would run deliveries.”

The next step, a few months later, was to allow the business to expand by getting a catering truck and joining the Farmers Market in Hollister. The demand was already there: Mike says order pickups at their home were already generating a serious traffic backup on their block.

“We needed to transition from the house to events,” he said. “But my wife was really organized. We sat down, came up with a game plan, and we tweaked things from there. We got a handle on everything pretty quickly.”

In 2022, they took over a location at 713 San Benito Street, intending it to be their flagship store in Hollister. The only sign of the venture that remains is a mural by artist Venecia Prudencio that is painted on the side of the building, part of an Arts Council project that Priscilla helped make happen. 

“We had some issues which pushed it out a couple of years,” Mike said. “And by that time, prices of everything went up. The build-out took us out of our budget, and we talked about backing off and seeing what opportunities were around.”

That opportunity was a spot in the Northridge Mall, which opened as the first brick-and-mortar Mmm Churros on Nov. 5, 2023. While saying the location had been good for them, Mike said that they decided a standalone brick-and-mortar store would be more accessible to customers, rather than in a large mall, where people had to walk around to find them.

“It was nice to go out and expand,” Mike said, “but when the lease was up after a year, we wanted to come back to the community and serve here, where we live.”

They spotted the current location at 341 Tres Pinos Road, which was occupied by 3 Queens Carnitas, and negotiated a lease to share the space. 

“I told my wife,” he said, “that it was a perfect opportunity because there’s not a lot of commercial kitchen real estate in Hollister. It felt great to be in town where everybody could come and see what else we have to offer.”

The shop opened on Oct. 20, 2024 with a wider variety of menu options that customers could get at the Farmers Market, including ice cream variations on Vertigo Coffee like Churro Affogato and Mexican Mocha.

That evening in a post on Facebook, Priscilla wrote, ““When you support small businesses like us, you’re not just buying a coffee or a treat. You’re supporting a family’s dream. Thank you from the bottom of our cinnamon sugar coated hearts for your continued love and support!”

Eight days later, she was killed in a head-on collision on a stretch of Hwy 25 south of Bloomfield Avenue. 

“I was ready to just close the doors,” Mike said, “and let everything go. I had to sit with that for a long time, for weeks, and then I just needed to keep going for her and the kids. But I’m still dealing with grief.”

Mike said he had never realized how beloved his wife and family were in the community and was stunned by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers they received.

“I felt like we were making our footprint,” he said. “It really let us know how big of an impact my wife had. You know, she’s an amazing woman and that right there gave me the strength to keep going.”

Catching his stride after almost a year, Mike said he is interested in franchising and hopes someday to open a location in his and Priscilla’s hometown of San Jose. 

“I try to keep it to a minimum right now,” he said, “just because I don’t want to get overwhelmed. But my wife and I had many discussions about how big we can make this. I want to continue with that, and I don’t want to stop until I can get us there.”

Mmm Churros
341 Tres Pinos Rd #101, Hollister
(831) 265-7025

Monday-Tuesday 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Closed on Wednesday and Sunday

Mmm Churros is on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. 

Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.

BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.

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