In April, when Sacramento restaurant Caballo Blanco turned 50, the anniversary came and went without fanfare. The mariachi band, the appetizer giveaway, those celebrations will come later this year. The quiet April birthday, however, was a gift in and of itself: it cemented the family-run restaurant’s status as a Sacramento icon of small business success.
Patriarch Miguel Unzueta established Caballo Blanco in 1961 with very little knowledge of the restaurant industry. “He had gotten fired from his previous job of 15 years,” says son Roy Unzueta, who now runs the restaurant with his brother Ruben. “A friend suggested creating a restaurant, and he went for it.”
Miguel Unzueta grew Caballo Blanco, which means White Horse in Spanish, from a neighborhood restaurant into a citywide institution before handing it down to his sons. Roy Unzueta believes the difference between Caballo Blanco and competitor restaurants is the small business personality: the family-friendly atmosphere reflects the spirit of the family-run restaurant.
Roy Unzueta says the key that has kept Caballo Blanco in business for the past five decades is consistency. “You have to be dedicated to the business, but more importantly, you need to be real consistent with the food.”
Loyal customers notice even the slightest changes to ingredients and dishes. One such case was Caballo Blanco’s signature tortilla chips. The chips, traditionally made from flour tortillas, suddenly appeared on tables one day as deep-fried corn tortillas. Roy had done the math, and corn tortillas would save the restaurant money. But he had not banked on the customers’ opposition. The change was quickly undone.
It was a test of the Unzuetas’ responsiveness. “People complain when we tweak the food a bit,” Roy Unzueta says. “We will add and drop things on the menu based off our clients’ reactions.”
When Roy and Ruben took over the restaurant, they were intent on retaining the authentic, family atmosphere their father had created. “The idea is to create an atmosphere that is fresh from Mexico,” Roy Unzueta says. “The ambiance has an Old Mexico feel: we have lots of historical photos on the walls, and we’ve created a hacienda feel in the new banquet room.”
No date has yet been pinned down to celebrate that 50th birthday, but Roy says it is coming later this year. He wants to hire a mariachi band, give away appetizers, and ultimately pay tribute to the customer dedication that has kept his family in business for half a century.
By Sonya Chudgar
