June 24, 2022

Another step to the dream of having a restaurant someday comes true this weekend for the mother-daughter team of Salas Salsas.

Their food truck will make its debut Saturday with two events.

Marcela Salas and her mother, Patricia Burbine, started selling salsas and take-and-bake tamales and enchiladas at the Brandon Farmers Market in 2020. They purchased a used bread truck that year and began saving money to convert it.

It’s ready to go – minus a colorful wrap to identify it.

“The inside is all finalized,” Salas said. “We’re just going to run with it and work toward a wrap.”

While it’s a plain white truck, there’s nothing plain about the flavors of the food.

Their recipes aren’t from one particular region of Mexico. The family is from Veracruz, but Burbine’s father worked in road construction, so they moved around Mexico, and she picked up each area’s style of cooking.

And the two women continue to create new recipes.

“With the food truck, we don’t plan on having a set menu,” Salas said. “We want to let our creative flag fly.”

Saturday morning, they’ll serve tortas and Mexican street corn at an event at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds. That afternoon and evening, they’ll sell nachos and Mexican hot dogs at a South Dakota Junior Olympic boxing event at the Multi-Cultural Center downtown.

Other menu possibilities include taquitos and empanadas, with vegan and vegetarian options.

“With the food truck, we’re primarily using it for catering and special events,” Salas said.

They’ve lined up a monthly gig at the Sioux Falls Food Co+op, and they hope to get some dates in at the Brandon Farmers Market, where they continue to sell their salsas and tamales every Saturday morning. They’ll post locations on the Salas Salsas Facebook page. 

The women have grown their business to include online ordering with an extensive take-and-bake menu and pickup spots at the co-op and farmers market. Several local grocery stores stock their salsas, and they also provide food for Pomegranate Market’s hot bar for lunch Thursday through Saturday.

“It’s been a long road getting here since late summer of 2020 when we purchased the truck and put it all together,” Salas said.

But the hard work has been worth it.

“This has been my dream my whole life,” Burbine said. “Maybe one day, maybe one day, and now that day is here.”

Meet the women behind a growing salsa business

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