America has always been known as the “land of opportunity” and one Pauls Valley resident is living proof of it.
In 1973 Rebecca Sondon and her family moved to Pauls Valley with the desire to start an authentic Mexican food restaurant.
Rebbecca was 29-years old and she moved here with her parents Herbert and Rosa Valenzuela, her husband Rosendo and 10 other family members to open Casa Rosa Mexican Restaurant.
Her father, who had been in the food business for several years as a cook and waiter, had responded to a help wanted ad placed by John Burns in a Laredo, Texas newspaper.
Burns was seeking a family to relocate to Pauls Valley to help him open a Mexican restaurant. The offer was too good to pass up for Valenzuela.
For Sondon, the move was a turning point in her family’s life.
“This was my opportunity to make a better life for my family. To give them all a good education,” she said.
Sondon, along with her mother, were the cooks while her brothers served as waiters for the tiny restaurant located in a pink house north of Pauls Valley.
The food was a big hit and soon Casa Rosa was running out of space to accommodate it’s growing clientele. The restaurant would move in 1979 to a larger location on SH-19 and be renamed Tio’s.
Today, the great authentic Mexican food that made Casa Rosa such a hit is still being prepared by Sondon, who is the restaurant’s kitchen manager and head cook.
“I cook every day for Tio’s,” Sondon said. “I also take to go orders and order supplies and produce for the restaurant.”
Sondon, who earned a Business degree at New Laredo Mexico College before coming to Pauls Valley, said she loves to teach people.
“However, my biggest joy is being able to see how much people enjoy my food,” she said.
When she started cooking at Casa Rosa, her specialty was the eatery’s hot sauce. That hasn’t changed at all over the years. Even today her hot sauce is a favorite condiment at Tio’s.
Making delectable dishes obviously is a family trait, one Sondon hopes to share with others in the future.
“I would like to make a cookbook with the recipes that I got from grandaunt. They are valuable and delicious recipes from Old Mexico and date back to mid 1930’s to 1980, when she died. I inherited the recipes from her upon my request,” Sondon said.
For Sondon, Pauls Valley has been a blessing for her and her family since moving here 34-years ago.
“I love how people are always so friendly and caring. They have made us feel welcome since the first day we moved here.”
Sondon and her husband have three daughters, Carmen, Mayella and Rebecca. Carmen is married and teaches at Whitebead School while Mayella and Rebecca still live at home.
When Sondon and her family moved to Pauls Valley they not only brought their recipes for great Mexican food but also their legal alien papers.
“We became legal citizens in 1984,” Sondon said. “I’m proud to be Mexican, because that is my heritage. But I’m also proud to be an American.”
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Related Photos
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Rebecca Sondon is pictured above from a 1989 Daily Democrat article cooking up a batch of tasty hot sauce for customers of Tio’s.
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Living the American Dream
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