"Provo relic closing doors after 40 years", by JAY PATRICK
The Daily Herald on Saturday, May 19 PROVO

Business is business, but sometimes a convenience store or a restaurant or a sno-cone stand adopts an aura above dollars and cents. It acquires identity, it establishes character, it comes to stand for something. So when such a place goes under, a bit of what it stands for seems to go with it.

But when El Azteca Mexican restaurant, in business for 40 years at 746 E. 820 North, closes up today, it won't mean an end of the Rubio legacy in Provo. "I feel sad," said Felicitas Rubio, who, with her husband, Jose, moved from Tijuana to open El Azteca in 1961. "But in business, nothing is forever. Business is like a person."

Belinda Ayala-Rubio, Jose's granddaughter, remembers. A father, with his daughter, an incoming freshman at BYU, came to have dinner at El Azteca. The father asked Belinda if she was a Rubio. "I told him I was and then he said to me, "take care of my daughter." That's how Jose Rubio was. One of those guys who radiates enigmatic, but very real, compassion that taps the substance of truly meaningful relationships. Lots of people have connections like that with one or two people, but Jose Rubio melded with many in such a manner. "He had a talent to teach without saying many words," said Eugenio Revuelta, Jose's son-in-law, who has assumed much of the responsibility of running the restaurant since Jose died. "The things I learned from him were not written in any book."

Jose and Felicitas left their tiny backcountry village of Tquequitlan in south central Mexico for Tijuana in 1944. Jose was 19. Felicitas was 17. Her father had offered the couple means to make a living and a home in Tquequitlan, but Jose didn't want it. They started humbly, setting up a makeshift home on Tijuana's outskirts, but in the next 19 years, Jose and Felicitas had two children and established a successful restaurant; they made a life from scratch. The Rubios' success in Tijuana defines them to a point. What better reflects their character is the next move they made, in 1961; from Tijuana to Provo to take over a struggling restaurant called El Azteca, risking an established existence for uncertainty and possible failure.

Business was rough at first. "The locals just weren't used to it (authentic Mexican food)," Eugenio said. A sizable Hispanic population has since risen in Provo, but, in 1961, the Rubios were about the only Mexicans around. Their difference didn't lead them into isolated lives, but rather spurred them to reach out and teach. Jose and Felicitas made a mission of serving Provo a slice of real Mexico, and Provo eventually ate it up. Their dreams, and the subsequent efforts of three generations of Rubios, have helped turn El Azteca into a foundation of Provo's Hispanic community.

The Rubio family say they just need a break for awhile. The El Azteca Taco Shops in Provo and Orem will stay open, and the family hints that a new El Azteca is in the works. "He (Jose) taught us exactly what he expected us to do," Eugenio said. "He put a dream in our minds." Belinda, Eugenio's step-daughter, continues his thought. "And we're going to go on living it."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.