San Antonio mural created by Ana Hernandez honors 'casero style' Mexican food pioneer Viola Barrios.
The mother of 'casero style' Mexican food in San Antonio has been honored with a true feast for the eyes. Los Barrios Family Restaurants is celebrating 45 years of food y familia with a new mural dedicated to its late matriarch Viola Barrios.
Barrios launched the family-owned restaurant group in 1979 when she opened the original Los Barrios Mexican Restaurant at 4223 Blanco Road. Now she greets patrons inside from a colorful fresco by San Antonio artist Ana Hernandez. “This mural represents Viola Barrios’ journey,' said her son Louis Barrios, president and CEO of Los Barrios Family Restaurants. 'From a 15-year-old girl in Bustamante, Mexico, to the Food Network’s 'Throwdown! with Bobby Flay' and many other milestones along the way. This mural represents Viola’s life. A life of sacrifice and a life of love.' Reminiscent of a Mexican ofrenda or altar, the mural depicts Viola Barrios holding a bowl of her famous carne guisada, surrounded by food and other imagery that reads like a timeline of her life. An image of herself as a teenager. The Los Barrios sign when it first opened and how it looks today. Louis' favorite birthday dish of fried chicken and corn, along with his sister Diana's birthday bowl of fideo with albondigas. A portrait of Viola's husband, Jose, who was killed by a drunk driver in the 1970s. ANOTHER TOWERING FIGURE: New Kamala Harris mural looms over Blue Star Arts Complex The 9-by-15-foot work is tied together with a red banner that bears the words 'amor,' 'fe' and 'alegría,' a respective nod to Viola Barrios' favorite saying that 'all you need is love, faith and happiness,' Hernandez said. Of course, some good home cooking helps, too. 'She made a living feeding people,' said Hernandez, who connected with the Barrios family via AnArte Gallery owner Ana Montoya for the mural. 'And she expressed her love through food.' Viola Barrios opened the original Los Barrios out of a former Dairy Queen to support her widowed family. Using old family recipes, she introduced diners to a homemade or 'casero style' of Mexican cooking. The Barrios brand later expanded with La Hacienda de Los Barrios in 2004. After Viola Davis was killed in a robbery in 2008, her children opened Viola's Ventanas in her honor in 2013. “When my mother was murdered, we remembered her words and celebrated her life,” Louis Barrios told the Express-News in 2015. “We didn’t focus on the loss. We focused on the love.” ROUGH RIDERS GET THEIR DUE: 70-foot-long mural to inspire Roosevelt High School athletes The Barrios family later opened La Hacienda Scenic Loop, only to close it this summer due to setbacks going back to the pandemic, the Express-News reported. The family will continue to rent out the building as an event space until Nov. 30, the report said. In the meantime, Viola Barrios' legacy continues with the three other restaurants. And now with a picturesque ode to the woman who started it all nearly half a century ago. 'We are so grateful to our community for their support and patronage for the past 45 years,' daughter Diana Barrios said in a statement. 'We are proud to say we have continued our mother's legacy of providing amazing food and hospitality.'
Viola Food Network Dairy Queen Roosevelt High School Viola Barrios Louis Barrios Ana Hernandez Hernandez The Barrios Jose ROUGH RIDERS Diana Ana Montoya Viola Davis Bustamante Bobby Flay Kamala Harris San Antonio Los Barrios Family Restaurants Mexican Los Barrios Mexican Restaurant Mexico 4223 Blanco Road La Hacienda De Los Barrios Ventanas Throwdown La Hacienda Scenic Loop Blue Star Arts Complex Anarte
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