ABOUT
Hugo Crespo always talked about the dream of one day owning a restaurant that served his favourite dishes. Most of Hugo's childhood memories revolve around food - eating enchiladas at his abuela's hacienda in Mixquihuala with family members, having late comida corrida with friends on the streets of Mexico City. Hugo's mom used to own a restaurant in Mexico City and he remembers how happy the customers were and how hard she worked to keep it running. Hugo's first job was at a pizzeria in Mexico City, and he worked in and managed restaurants for many years in Mexico and the United States before we moved to Canada. Food and restaurants have always been Hugo's passion.
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On March 23, 2019, Hugo opened the doors of Sí Señor Mexican Street Food.
As it is with most new restaurants, the first year of business at Sí Señor had many ups and downs. The chef quit unexpectedly, the floor got drenched and ruined, licenses took much longer than expected to go through. At the same time, spectacularly positive reviews started flowing in from happy customers. When Sí Señor hit 100 positive reviews on Google with a score of 4.9 out of 5.0 in less than a year, he was in tears.
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After being open only one year, the restaurant world was turned upside down (as all things were) by COVID-19. Hugo quickly set to work modifying Sí Señor - reducing hours, changing menu items, and adjusting to the new environment.
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Every order is a labour of love for Hugo - a love of serving customers, making people happy, and giving back in any way that he can. It is a way for Hugo to share his most cherished memories with the Ottawa community and to hopefully help spread some joy.
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Every part of Sí Señor is a reflection of Hugo. His favourite colours are all over the building. His Mexican art and pottery collection lines its walls (he jokes that he had to open a restaurant just to have somewhere to display his overflowing collection!). The recipes are a mix of traditional flavours of his childhood and new creations that he invents. Sí Señor is vibrant, playful, creative, busy, colourful, energetic, flavourful, passionate, spontaneous, and caring - just like its owner.
