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A FAMILY AFFAIR:
One of Stillwater’ s favorite restaurants continues to offer authentic Mexican food
When the Vargas family first moved to Stillwater in 1998, their restaurant was the first sit-down, family-owned Mexican restaurant to open in Stillwater. Nearly 30 years later,“ El Tap” is one of the most beloved Mexican restaurants in Stillwater.
Juanis Sanchez, the oldest daughter in the family, was 11 years old when her family moved here along with her siblings Alma, David and Danny.
“ Coming from California, you can imagine how that was,” she said.“ There weren’ t very many things around town when we got here.”
Luis and Consuelo Vargas had worked long hours running an apricot orchard in California.“ That was his thing, working outside,” Juanis said.“ And so did my mom( Consuelo). She was the manager of all the girls, and he was the manager of all the men.”
Consuelo’ s brother, Ramon Villasenor, had already been working in the restaurant business in Kansas. The Vargas family wanted to own their own business, so Ramon convinced them to leave California and form a partnership to start a restaurant somewhere else in the United States.
“ They just traveled around the states to see where they could find a good business,” Sanchez said.“ They found( ed) El Tapatio next to the( new) high school. It was the first location.”
Later, the three parted ways and the Vargas family took over ownership of El Tapatio, which is now commonly called“ El Tap.” The name originates from the people of Guadalajara, the capital and largest city of the state Jalisco in western Mexico.
After the first location, the Vargas family owned other El Tap restaurants in town before landing in 2006 at their current location at 825 S. Perkins Rd.
The restaurant has both inside dining and a gated outdoor dining area
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