Against the odds Yona Redz start up restaurant emerges from the pandemic and satisfies diners

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – As a family inspired Westside back yard cook with no restaurant experience, Jonathan "Yona" Estrada has become a success story in Santa Barbara in many ways.

As Yona Redz restaurant celebrates three years, it is a milestone you could say has been against all odds.

That's mainly because the restaurant started during the pandemic when the public was not out in big numbers and many businesses quickly closed or never survived even after restrictions were lifted.

Estrada was a neighborhood word of mouth business at first, and lines were forming. "People were looking for me the following week and the following week, people want to come out and the lines were getting longer and longer and that's what made me realize maybe I'm on to something," said Estrada.

Then it was a step up as a occasional pop up business inside a restaurant on lower State St. that had closed its kitchen. Friends loved the specialized tacos with birria meat, and a special cooking process to bring out flavors from Mexico they did not get elsewhere. Soon the word was out, the lines were growing and there was a tempting call to grow and expand.

He was fortunate to work out a deal for a small, vacant site at 532 State St. and start serving there as a full sized restaurant, including a city approved outside patio. It was a big learning experience on all aspects of running a food establishment. "Everybody just said I was crazy, everybody told me not to do it, " said Estrada.

His menu and presentation respect the family traditions. A picture of his grandparents hangs on one wall. A photo of his mother who died in 2014 hangs on another wall and is an inspiration. "Everytime I walk in here I think of her. She is on the wall there," said Estrada. He learned a lot cooking with his mom. "Having some love for it and teaching me the most basic is sometimes the best," he said. "The process is amazing and that's what makes it all worth it ."

To get it right, he says, "that five to four hour process is what gets everyone coming back."

City officials were there for a ribbon cutting on November 15, 2020, in part, to support the small local business but also to help with the economic revitalization on a street that is struggling to reinvent itself.

It was not only a great location, but also a challenging one on a block that is one of the busiest food locations in downtown and competition of all kinds nearby.

Estrada also makes a product that is arguably one of the most common in the city, a taco. That is why he had to do something with his family recipe, his growing reputation and his in-person contact with the public to make his restaurant stand out. That blend has apparently worked.

A worker nearby Octavia Ross said, "I feel like it speaks for itself, once you have one you say 'Oh this is a different taco place!'"   

Sitting with a friend outside Mike Yamasaki said, "during the pandemic that's the most unbelievable part of that story,  but when you have a good product like he does it is not surprising that it starts in a back yard and  ends  something like this."

Customers nearby at the Old Kings Road bar ordered at Yona Redz and a server carried it in a to go container next door. "The fact that he made it this long (three years) means he is going to be long term in Santa Barbara, he is going to make it."

Ross agreed, saying "being  able to do that says a lot about what he is serving and also him as a person . I'm a big fan. It's great. "

Estrada also made some tough personal decisions along the way, including to leave a full time job with benefits to go at this uncharted culinary adventure during tough economic times. He did this without a bank loan and only the money he made through his pop up sales.

The official anniversary party will be Sunday November 19. The deals will be the original pop up meal with three tacos plus the traditional consomme and a drink for $13. The classic quesotaco will be $3. Street tacos will be $2.50. Beer will be $5.00.

For more information go to: Yona Redz.

(More details, photos and video will be added later today)