Read the full article by Greg Micek at Sacramento News & Review
In downtown Sacramento, where small businesses compete with national chains and ever-changing consumer trends, one long-standing restaurant has managed to thrive thanks to loyal customers, outside help and a lot of resilience.
Tapa the World has served Spanish tapas and wine, often accompanied by live guitar music since 1994. It’s a place where anniversaries are celebrated and memories linger over shared plates and warm lighting. But like many independent restaurants across the region, staying open hasn’t been easy.
Chef Marcos Murillo began working in the kitchen just a couple of years after the restaurant opened. He was promoted from line cook to executive chef, and in February 2020, he and his wife, Brooke Murillo, officially bought the business from its original owners. A month later, COVID-19 shut everything down.
Brooke Murillo had concerns about buying a restaurant even before the pandemic — but a global shutdown wasn’t one of them. “It was going to be this really easy transition because everything was going to be exactly the same,” she said. “Then we were the only two working, trying to figure out to-go orders, running social media and everything.”