By Karina Mazhukhina
The smell of freshly made enchiladas, spices, and a combination of rich, distinct flavors fill the kitchen. Returning customers stay seated, munching on their salsa-covered tortilla chips, while eagerly awaiting their entrees. Cooks make final touches before servers take plates and greet customers with smiles and conversations. This is the place restaurant-owner Julio Blanco and his family call home.
“My mom always jokes that my dad should just take his bed to work,” laughs daughter Diana Blanco. “He’s very hardworking and does pretty much everything at the restaurant. It’s very inspiring to see.”
Blanco has been the owner of Circo Circo Mexican Restaurant for 17 years. But that wasn’t always the case. He grew up on a ranch in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he worked in the fields growing corn, beans, wheat, and raised farm animals. He had been supporting his family since the age of 16. Wanting an adventure, he moved to Kirkland, Washington where he met his future wife Dora.
“When I came from Mexico I kind of had to figure out what kind of job I really liked here,” he saido. “When I started in the restaurant business, I found out that this is the type of job I really like to do. I never cared about making a lot of money. I just love doing what I do.”
It wasn’t until 1989 that Blanco was exposed to the restaurant business. He started working as a dishwasher for Toreros, a local Mexican Restaurant in Kirkland. A year later he became a cook for them and eventually top chef.
It was at Toreros that he met Kim Rector, future owner of Circo Circo Mexican Restaurant. Rector, having seen the potential in Blanco’s cooking, invited him to come work as a chief cook in her new restaurant in Kirkland in 1994. She eventually made him a partner two years later.
Unfortunately, the restaurant was not doing as well as Rector hoped. She closed the Kirkland location and moved Circo Circo to Des Moines, Washington. In 1998, she decided to put the restaurant up for sale, giving Julio the option to sell his share or buy the restaurant in its entirety.
By then, Julio developed a newfound love for the restaurant business. Overjoyed at the thought of being his own boss, managing all aspects of the restaurant, and working with his family, he bought Circo Circo. Wanting a bigger and newer space, Julio moved his restaurant to its new location in Kent in 2009.
Come present day, Julio can’t imagine working anywhere else. Whether it’s cooking, interacting with customers, or managing the restaurant, Julio makes sure that he offers quality service and leaves his customers with a positive restaurant experience. Some customers have been coming to Circo Circo for nearly 10 years and travel as much as two hours to get there.
“This is a destination location,” said Kit Geiger, a customer who comes in three times a week. “In other restaurants the manager never comes out and talks to their customers. But here, who doesn’t know Julio? You can sit down and have a conversation with him and feel welcomed and accepted. And the food? Oh my goodness you can’t beat it.”
Quality of food and customer loyalty is just two of the many things Circo Circo is founded on. Family solidarity may just be the biggest. From cooks and servers to dishwashers and janitors, Circo Circo is made up of entirely family members or friends that are like family.
“Having our family together is most important,” said Blanco’s wife Dora.
Dora and Julio’s son Ivan is an example of just how much the Blancos value family. He travels every other weekend from Portland to help out his parents at the restaurant.
“It’s nice to get to bond with my parents and siblings in a different environment,” said daughter Diana Blanco. “The restaurant makes me feel at home.”
No matter how far or how close each person travels, Julio is just glad to see his loved ones take the time to help with the family business and show that they care.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I could manage my own restaurant,” said Blanco. “I’ve shown that I can, and I know I’ll always have my family by my side.”
