Something good at El Tapatio — artist Higgy Vasquez restores “Recuerdos de mi Pueblo.”
The new owners of Salerman’s El Tapatio, Angel and David Oreas, father and son, walked into the restaurant to buy and expand their already successful Mexican food business. The owner of the well-known Dos Mexicanos taco trucks, David Oreas, had been serving up delicious, traditional foods of Mexico for nine years at events in Orange County as well as the trendy Downtown Santa Ana Artists’ Village.
As the Oreas entered the backroom dining hall, they were pleased to see a spacious banquet room area. To their surprise and amazement, there was an expansive 9’ by 60’ mural extending the entire length of the west wall. The painting was a three-dimensional view of a Mexican village depicting daily life with a colorful marketplace and mountain terrain in the far distance. They had discovered, “Recuerdos de mi Pueblo,” translated as “Memories of my Village,” created by Emigdio Vasquez in 1990. It was the 24th of 32 murals painted by Emigdio Vasquez during his prolific years from 1975 to 2005.
Higgy Vasquez worked with his father since he was a young boy painting murals in Orange County. Emigdio Sr., frequently referred to as the ‘Godfather of Chicano Art,’ was a muralist and painter, much loved and appreciated in the local neighborhoods of Orange County, California. Since 2008, Higgy began the quest to restore his father’s mural works, many in different stages of decline. To date, Higgy has restored seven large murals in Orange, Irvine, Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Fullerton. And he created an additional new one of his own in the city of Orange, chosen as a project by the prestigious Getty Museum’s Pacific Standard Time LA/LA in 2017–2018 and featured in the Orange County Film Fiesta 2019.
“The mural had some chunks missing and peeling here and there,” Oreas stated, “but when my father and I found the name of the artist, Emigdio Vasquez in the corner of the mural, we were excited, because just maybe the artist could come and repair the mural.” What he found was the artist had passed away in 2014. However, he discovered the son, Higgy Vasquez, on Instagram. Low and behold, he was an artist who had been restoring his father’s murals. “We were so happy to find the son of the muralist, who was also very pleased to revisit this mural. When Higgy came to see it, he stood there and just took it in; I’m sure he remembered way back when.”
Receiving the call about the piece, Vasquez was surprised, “My father painted so many murals in Orange County. Honestly, I had forgotten about this one.” It had been twenty-eight years since Vasquez helped his father at this particular mural, but he recalled working only a few days to help out as he was a student at Fullerton College at the time.
Reference materials from his father have made all the difference in restoring his works, notably where pieces are missing or destroyed. “Layers have to be re-built and colors recreated,” Vasquez clarified. “Knowing what color comes first is important; otherwise, it won’t look right. I must match and detail everything. You shouldn’t be able to tell repairs so that it is all one.”
“I hope people will come and visit the mural and enjoy a delicious meal,” says Vasquez. “The Oreas were so very generous and served me full-on meals while repairing the mural. The enchiladas, guacamole, and tacos were awesome. I wish all my restorations had amenities like El Tapatio!”
David Oreas commented that as he learned more about the father, Emigdio, and working now with Higgy Vasquez, it made the restaurant even more special to him. “We knew we had a jewel in the mural, and we were so happy to see it restored. We knew it was something good.”
Sitting next to the mural, his dad says, “It feels like Oaxaca.” David’s face breaks into a smile. Happy to have the wall restored, it is now part of the Oreas story as well, and perhaps a tribute to fathers and their sons.
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“We knew we had a jewel in the mural and were so happy to see it restored. We knew it was something good.” David Oreas
