Interview: Meet Mr. Fidel Sanchez “The Hurricane Hunter”

We’d like to introduce to our readers a character well known in the restaurant circle as “El Caza Huracanes”. We asked Fidel Sanchez how is it that he got this nickname and if he could share a little bit of his story. 

He was about 21 years old when he traveled from Michoacán Mexico to Houston Texas. He had several employments until he worked at a company that facilitated a position for him as a welder’s assistant. Soon after getting settled he suffered an accident that kept him from walking, it took a year for him to be able to walk on crutches. During that time his financial situation was becoming more difficult with each passing day, which in turn was very depressing for him. One day a friend recommended that he’d talk to the owner of a bar to see if he would allow Fidel to set up a small taco stand outside of his establishment. That’s what he did! He gained so much clientele for the bar and the taco stand that he quickly had to find additional help with preparing the tacos. After that he found a small space a couple of blocks away from the bar and just kept growing. Today Fidel is the owner of “Taquerias Sanchez” and also “Loncheras Sanchez”. 

We asked Fidel Sanchez, why is it that they call him “El Caza Huaracanes?” He lets out a loud charismatic chuckle and tells us, “Everything started when I was finally able to buy a van to go sell tacos at construction sites by myself. I visited mechanic shops and any place where there was a need for food. That was around the time when Katrina hit and I had the urge to travel to Louisiana in my van to sell food to the working people, it was a successful idea! Then there was a flood in Baton Rouge and there I went with my van once again. I made food delicious and accessible to the people working at the cleanup sites for natural disasters whether we had to make it all the way to Florida, Texas, or Louisiana. So that’s how I picked up the nickname “El Caza Huracanes” which means “The Hurricane Hunter”. He laughed and reminisced.

 He continued to tell us that this was the point in his career where he was able to buy a few more lunch vans. “A few more years later and we have 9 total food trucks and we’re going strong. We go anywhere we are needed that others may not bother going like natural disaster sites,” he says. We asked him about the logistics of purchasing fresh quality inventory and always being ambitiously on the go, he said it was simple, Diaz foods delivers his product wherever he is whenever he needs it and that has played a part in enabling him to grow and be able to even invest in brick and mortar establishments whenever the opportunity arises. He also owns a restaurant in Lake Charles Louisiana, Panama City Florida and Houston Texas. He says that in the future he’d like to pass on his knowledge on to his oldest son whom is very interested in this industry, so much so that he already owns his own restaurant. He added that all of his children have left the nest and are independent now which gives him a chance to relax and take things easy. He looks forward to the future, with another restaurant to be open soon in Lake Charles LA!

We also look forward to his future and continued growth. We thanked mister Fidel Sanchez for talking with us, and we congratulate him and his team on the relentless hustle and pay off. Congratulations!

Taqueria Sanchez #1
46 Westbank Expy
Gretna, LA  70053
Phone: 504 361-3050

Taqueria Sanchez #2
750 15th Street
Panama City, FL 32401
Phone: 281 785-1423