A quick online search for “Richmond’s Mexican food scene” will most likely tell you that you can get a mega burrito as long as your arm for $25 at Tacos El Rulas.
The taqueria, which opened its first brick and mortar restaurant about a year ago, is also known for its spacious seating, neon lighting, full bar and aztec-style murals featuring popular Mexican icons — including singers Selena and Vicente Fernandez and artist Frida Khalo.
El Rulas’ food has gone viral, with Bay Area social media influencers flocking there to shoot videos of the ambiance while tasting the restaurant’s unique menu, a menu that, in addition to the typical tacos and burritos, includes a Mexican baked potato, filled with your meat of choice, and seafood including ceviche, aguachile and Mexican sushi made with al pastor.
But behind the scenes of the restaurant’s eye-catching atmosphere and specially-curated menu is the story of owner Raul Ramirez, 39, who named the restaurant as a play on his first name.
Ramirez sat down with Richmondside at the 23rd Street restaurant in the Richmore Village/Metro Square neighborhood recently to share his journey, which began in his youth in Mexico City, working with taco vendors, to settling down in Richmond during the early-2000s and achieving his longtime dream of having his own business.
Meet Your Neighbor: Raul Ramirez
Who: Raul Ramirez, 39, founder of Tacos El Rulas
Neighborhood: 23rd Street in the Richmore Village/Metro Square neighborhood
He said: “It was hard. No one was there to teach me. The streets and being hungry with not enough money to buy myself a burrito taught me. I always wanted to own my own taqueria but the circumstances in life didn’t allow me to.”
Richmond is home to 40+ distinct neighborhoods, a fact that some residents have told us makes them feel disconnected to the city as a whole. This story is part of an occasional series to help Richmonders get to know their neighborhoods. Know someone we should feature? Email hello@richmondside.org.
In Mexico City, Ramirez worked as a chalán, an assistant, in the city’s dynamic taco scene, working with professional taco vendors and learning firsthand what running a food business looks like.
“Since I was 10 years old I worked with many taqueros and started out washing plates,” he said, adding that he held other jobs to support himself, including selling newspapers, but in his heart he always wanted to own a restaurant.
Ramirez didn’t grow up in a family with money, so he had to work to buy his necessities, picking up business savvy along the way.
“It was hard. No one was there to teach me. The streets and being hungry with not enough money to buy myself a burrito taught me,” he said. “I always wanted to own my own taqueria but the circumstances in life didn’t allow me to.”
Ramirez came to Richmond in 2003 with no family and no connections locally. He started off buying an ice cream cart and pushing it around the city. It was difficult, those first years, he said.
“When one comes to this country, you don’t have the luxury of choosing what you want to do, you work in whatever is available.”
It is no secret that Richmond has a diverse community which includes many people like Ramirez, who were born outside of the United States.
According to U.S. Census data, about 34.5% of Richmond’s 115,353 residents were “foreign” born, much higher than the national average of 14.3%, and the majority say they are from Mexico.
In this diversity, Ramirez said, he saw opportunity and was motivated to grow his business. While simultaneously working various construction gigs, he began expanding what he wanted to do and began selling Mexican snacks like elotes (Mexican street corn), raspados (shaved ice) and sliced fruit in 2008. During that time, he met his wife Tayde and the two expanded from Richmond to North Richmond and then to other East Bay cities.
After trouble over county food regulations, El Rulas founder decides to pursue a legit business
Yet, it wasn’t lost on Ramirez that he wasn’t in compliance with local food vendor ordinances.
“It’s known that many eloteros don’t have permission to sell,” he said. “It’s illegal.”
His home was twice searched by Contra Costa County Department of Public Health inspectors, who came alongside Richmond police and fire officials, who took his food supplies and equipment because he didn’t have the proper permits.
“I felt so bad,” Ramirez said. “They took everything I used to prepare the food and I never forgot that feeling.”
Ramirez said it was an experience that was both negative and positive.
“It was negative in the sense because I felt so bad about it but positive because it motivated me to legitimize my business so they could never take my things from me again,” he said.
Seven years later, in 2015, after building up his elote business and buying his first truck, the same county inspector who had confiscated his property at his home signed off on his truck and recognized him from that day.
“It was like a full-circle moment,” he said.
After his first truck was approved, Ramirez set up shop selling al pastor tacos in Berkeley and then opened another truck on the corner of Rumrill Avenue and Pine Street outside of the Top Gas on the border of Richmond and San Pablo.
Angel Ramirez, Raul’s 17-year-old son who works alongside other family members at the restaurant, told Richmondside that he remembers the al pastor tacos and other Mexico City taco styles really helped the business grow.
“It’s a common thing now but before the al pastor cooked with a trompo (a spit) provided a different kind of ambiance in Richmond,” Angel Ramirez said. “It really took off.”
According to the family, Ramirez’ brother, who became the owner of the building, eventually rented out the facility to his brother in 2024 after the family turned the parking lot into a bustling taco truck destination in the years after the pandemic.
The vision for his business, Ramirez said, has always been one to employ family members and make it a unique destination for those in Richmond and outside of the city to enjoy. He also said he hired a social media manager who has compiled a number of viral videos on the business’ Instagram and TikTok channels.
Experimental dishes such as ‘papas locas’ help taqueria stand out
“It’s about giving people an experience. This taqueria isn’t what you normally see in Richmond,” Ramirez said, adding that the menu has evolved through experimentation and popular demand, which required drawing inspiration from his upbringing and adding some twists — such as Rulas’ papas locas (Mexican baked potato).
Ramirez said in Mexico City the baked potato was a popular snack but with just cheese and butter. To incorporate it into El Rulas’ menu he experimented with different family recipes.
“We ordered the potatoes and put a little bit of this and that until we came up with the papas locas,” he added.
They hope to secure a live music permit from the city and have attended recent council meetings to advocate for it.
“We want to make this a family-friendly location with live music because no other taqueria in Richmond has it,” he said. “We want to bring business into the city.”
Lately, however, foot traffic has seemingly gone down from Richmond’s undocumented population, which frequents many of the Latino-owned businesses along the 23rd Street corridor. Ramirez believes it is due to the fear in the community.
“The undocumented folks, especially Latinos, are scared. And that’s sad,” he said. “We are thankful we have customers of all backgrounds, but the majority who come here are Latino immigrants.”
For Ramirez, he hopes his business can provide undocumented residents with a “safe haven” of community during the uncertain times inspired by the murals that wrap around the building.
“Who doesn’t know Vicente Fernandez? Who doesn’t know Chalino Sanchez? Who doesn’t know about the Aztecs? Our people know them all. So when you come here, we try to make you feel like you’re in Mexico and give you a familiar experience.”
