Gabe Hernandez has sold the popular Taco Mexicanos to Pablo Hernandez (no relation). The food truck will stay open through December while they work out the details. The “full hand off” will take place on Jan. 1. Gabe will remain involved on the brand level.
- Gabe Hernandez, who started Taco Mexicanos in 2016, had set a November 30 deadline to either find the right buyer or close the restaurant on his own terms. The business began almost as a joke when Hernandez and his wife moved to Pensacola and couldn’t find good tacos. “You can’t live here without tacos,” he recalled telling his wife. “If nobody else is making them, then we’re going to have to do it ourselves.”
Ten years later, that joke turned into a thriving restaurant. But as Hernandez negotiated with potential buyers, an unlikely candidate emerged: Pablo Hernandez, who shares the same last name but no family relation.
“I just happened to be coming for lunch that day, and I just saw Gabe talking to people in fancy suits,” Pablo said. When he learned about the potential sale, he asked if he could make a bid, surprising Gabe, who knew Pablo wasn’t in the restaurant business.
Pablo, a military veteran who arrived in Pensacola in 2017, brings an eclectic background to his new venture. He runs a dog training company and a Latin entertainment company and has organized numerous festivals in the city. “This kind of perfects what I’ve always wanted to do: work with music, dogs, and now tacos,” he said.
Pablo promises to keep the core menu unchanged while adding his own touches: a “dog menu” featuring multiple items, community festivals with piñatas and face painters, and a large offset smoker for Tex-Mex style barbecue.
- “Taco Mexicanos is already its own entity presence in the community,” Pablo said. “I’m just looking forward to adding to it.”
After a fast-track negotiation, Gabe feels he has found the right buyer after all, ensuring the restaurant’s story continues with a new chapter rather than an ending.
