From getting laid off to Flauta Kings. Humble beginning inspires Fresno restaurant
Partners David Galaviz and Anthony Dimmick had both lost their jobs during the pandemic when they sat down to brainstorm what to do next.
It turned out to be a pretty brief meeting as both of quickly realized their passion all along wasn’t with the jobs that had been holding the past few years.
It actually was with food.
So Galaviz, who previously worked at a dental office, and Dimmick, who’d been working at a newspaper, decided it was time to pursue their passion and start a food business.
And what better food for Galaviz to focus on than what he’d grown up eating and cooking and regularly got compliments from friends and family about: flautas.
“Flautas are a Mexican traditional dish,” Galaviz said. “Depending on where you’re from, it could be called taquitos, flautas, deep-fried tacos. Sometimes, it comes in traditional flour tortillas. I grew up eating them with corn (tortillas) all the time.
“This was our first idea and it stuck. We really felt we could push it out there and try to get people something a little different. Tacos are everywhere. Flautas — our flautas — are unique and flavorful.”
And with that thinking, Flauta Kings was created.
Operating as a food street vendor, Flauta Kings has a pop-up tent that’s regularly set up for special events around town, does catering and takes food orders over social media with the pickup location simply just outside of their house.
And it’s taken off during its 5 1/2 years, generating a solid social media presence with roughly 7,000 followers on Instagram and attracting customers throughout the central San Joaquin Valley.
They’re even catering their first wedding by providing post-reception flautas.
“In the beginning, we made like $45,” Galaviz said. “And I was like, ‘Man. That’s going to happen.’ But we just kept at it and kept at it. And slowly but surely, people started coming around wanting to try the food more.
“The money started increasing. It started paying the bills. We were really doing it!”
Flauta Kings prides itself in providing a flavorful experience.
They offer potato, chicken or quesabirria flautas.
The flautas can come plain or all dressed up with salsa and other layers of flavors on top.
Flauta Kings have even dabbled with flautas covered in hot Cheetos.
Perhaps surprisingly, the potato flautas are the most popularly ordered.
Flauta Kings also make sure that their meats are seasoned, so the salsa isn’t the only ingredient carrying flavor.
“Our flavors will speak for themselves,” Galaviz said.
And don’t forget the Flauta Kings’ rice, which originated from a home recipe cooked by Galaviz’s mom but enhanced by Dimmick, who is Armenian-American and added slightly different seasonings to make the Flauta Kings rice different from others.
“My mom actually told my partner, the torch is his with the Mexican rice,” Galaviz said. “She doesn’t want to cook it anymore. He can do it. It’s his job now (at family functions).”
Flauta Kings is in the process of getting their food truck up and running by the end of the year, and becoming more easily accessible to others around town.
Galaviz and Dimmick, nonetheless, are happy their small business has worked out, and that they’re doing what they truly love.
“Our heart and soul is into this business,” Galaviz said with a big smile. “It really did take off. I’m really grateful and humbled by this.”
