ATLANTA — Nestor Pineda, Jr. says the name of his new restaurant “El Gordo” is a nickname.
“El Gordo” means “The fatty in Spanish.”
Pineda says he was a chubby baby. But when El Gordo first opened in Cobb County, it was no joke. It was during the pandemic shutdown in the spring of 2020.
“It was make or break for us at that time. It wasn’t an easy decision to make. We kind of went back to our roots. What can we do in the kitchen?” Pineda said.
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They put his mother Emelia in charge of the cooking. Determined to carry on, the family switched to carry out, but it was still a challenge to let customers know they were open.
That’s when a campaign called Latin Restaurant Weeks was born. Across the metro, the group worked to promote Latin restaurants and help them advertise. It saved many from bankruptcy.
The annual drive is now celebrating its third year, partnering with the nonprofit Feed the Soul Foundation, which has provided grants to help the restaurants stay in business.
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Pineda never needed the grants. The advertising was enough, which allowed him to open his second El Gordo location in Buckhead.
“They’ve been great at bringing awareness to Latin restaurants. Many are underserved in the community and underfunded. I feel like they do a great job of bringing attention and awareness for smaller mom-and-pop restaurants,” Pineda said.
Latin Restaurant Weeks in Atlanta runs through the end of the month.
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