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Considering the arc of the Sazón Celestial food truck’s origin story, it is difficult to say whether the founder, 26-year-old Javier Serrano, moves at the speed of light or just at the speed of sound. It took a mere six months for him to go from not knowing how he would pay rent to opening, on July 28, the fully paid-off food truck of his mother Susana Fernandez’s dreams.
Now open six days a week in the corner lot at Fourth and Monterey Streets, Sazón’s blend of Mexican cuisines has been successful enough that Serrano celebrated the one-month anniversary with an evening of free steak tacos.
“I want to give back to the community,” he said, “and show my gratitude for everybody who’s been supporting us. I told my dad, I’m gonna make it happen for my mom. Only God knows how He gave me the strength, but I never lost hope or faith.”
And it was a leap of faith he made in January that brought everything into being. Searching for a way to improve his finances, Serrano stumbled across a $600 gold chain for sale on Facebook. When he flipped it for a $700 profit, the path to the future became very clear.
“It was the randomest thing ever,” Serrano said. “I had no knowledge about the jewelry business. I just thought, ‘Why don’t I just buy it and see how I do?’ I reposted it for sale on my social media and sold it three hours later. I was shocked.”
A chance remark from one of his buyers, a flipper himself, led Serrano to ask him for some tips. After two months of intensive study and selling, Serrano had enough money for a down payment on a used food truck.
Fernandez already had a small business, cooking out of her home kitchen for neighbors and friends with recipes handed down from her mother and grandmother. But to her, a food truck was way beyond anything she thought possible.
“I have always liked to cook,” she said. “Then one day, my son said, ‘If I bought you a food truck, would you be willing to start a business?’ And I got scared. I thought it was a game, and I didn’t take it seriously. I told him, ‘That’s fine; if you buy it, then I will start a business.’”
Three days later, the truck was parked outside of her house.
“She didn’t want to do it,” Serrano said. “She told me, ‘I’m fine here at home. It’s a lot of work, a lot of stress, and I don’t want people criticizing my food. I’d rather just sell it to those who like it already, and that’s that.’”
Obviously, that wasn’t that… and the instant positive response to the truck—and its menu—changed her mind completely.
“Every time I serve a dish,” Fernandez said, “I see the looks on their faces. They can tell I make my food with patience and love. Seeing that people enjoy my dishes makes me feel blessed. Now I can say that I’m no longer scared to sell my food.”
Besides being the source of the recipes, Fernandez also chose the business’s name: “sazón,” meaning the seasoning or soul of the food, and “Celestial,” which refers to an angelic influence.
But the more earthly influences are the recipes Fernandez grew up with—from the rich cuisines of Michoacán and La Paz, Baja California—the menus she said she knows like the back of her hand.
Five of those have been on the menu since Sazón’s opening, including the most popular dish: tilapia fish tacos, a recipe passed down from Serrano’s great-grandmother, which are available in two styles.
The first version is influenced by La Paz, where the Serrano family hails from. It is served with a coleslaw made with carrots, cabbage and sour cream and a chipotle sauce that has a gentle yet persistent heat. The second version mixes plain cabbage with fresh pico de gallo and leaves out the sour cream.
“I’m picky with food,” Serrano said. “I don’t want to eat something that’s too hot or too greasy. These make me feel like when I go to Mexico. You can never go wrong with fish tacos on a sunny, hot day. They’re just refreshing.”
The enchiladas are also offered in two versions: a standard order of four enchiladas made with shredded chicken and served with cubed potatoes, then topped with carrots, lettuce, onion, cheese, and sour cream.
The second version, Michoacán Style, was first offered as a special and, by the time you are reading this, has been scheduled to be added to the menu.
“The ones from Michoacán,” Serrano said, “are made with cheese and little pieces of onion instead of the chicken inside. You get the enchiladas with all the toppings, and a piece of chicken on the side. That’s the authentic way of serving them.”
The tostadas come from a recipe that Fernandez developed as a healthier alternative, made with beans, carrots, potatoes, lettuce, onion, tomato and cheese, topped with sour cream. Chicken can be added as an option.
“We thought we’d make something similar to our enchiladas,” Serrano said. “But you’re not going to find a tostada like ours anywhere, because we basically just invented it.”
Wanting to have something, he said, that no other restaurant in town prepares, Serrano added his own favorite to the menu: the “super rare” dark crimson pambazo, a torta made with bread that has been dipped in enchilada sauce, then grilled, stuffed with spicy chorizo sausage, potato, lettuce, cheese, tomato, and onion.
It is a magnificently messy sandwich that calls for slicing off pieces with a knife and fork to make it a touch easier to eat. The soaked grilled bread gains crispiness on the outside while the insides remain soft and warm.
“The meat it comes with is personally my favorite,” Serrano said. “Those who know what a pambazo is know that it strictly comes with chorizo. You don’t really have options on that. It has to have chorizo.”
In line with Serrano’s lightning speed in all things, by the time you read this article, there will be five new items on the menu, including chicken and steak quesadillas, steak tacos, tilapia fish and chips, and asada fries with chipotle sauce, sour cream, pico de gallo and jalapeños. And a winter menu is already in the works, including pozole and menudo.
And if that is not enough, in addition to staying open for the late-night crowd until at least 10:30 p.m., Mama Susana will be getting up bright and early, starting on Sept. 14, to serve the brand-new menu, featuring breakfast versions of croissants, burritos, burgers and sandwiches.
As might be expected, Serrano is not stopping there. By trading the rent on his truck spot for the role of property manager at the Fourth Street lot, he sees an opportunity to lease space to an additional 12 to 14 vendors and create a food truck park.
And his next goal? Setting up his own coffee shop, for which he is already scouting locations and, down the line, opening his own jewelry store.
Besides coming up with the business name, Fernandez also inspired the food truck’s logo, which was brought to life by an artist friend of Serrano’s from Watsonville.
“She told me she wanted two hands and doves,” Serrano said. “And she loves flowers, so she wanted the hands to be holding a sprouting plant. When I saw it, I did not know what it meant, but I thought it was beautiful.”
The meaning, according to Serrano, is that the family is being blessed by the Man Above through those hands, the hands of an angel, and that the food that Sazón Celestial makes and serves is intended as a blessing to those who receive it.
“If someone asks me who I think brought us here,” Serrano said, “my answer is God. God has been good to us.”
Sazón Celestial
Location: the corner of Fourth and Monterey Streets, Hollister
Hours of operation (as of publication): Wednesday-Saturday 2:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Sazón Celestial is on Instagram and TikTok
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 expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and for giving 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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