Rulber De La Torre initially worried incorporating his name into the branding of his new Prairie Village cantina would seem too egotistical. But then the longtime Mi Ranchito restaurateur looked beyond the logo itself — back to a career that started as a 15-year-old slogging away to wash dishes in a hot kitchen.
Today, he owns and operates eight Kansas restaurants, with Rulber’s Restaurant Mas Cantina the first to bear what’s become a family name.
“To come from the very bottom it is a dream come true, beyond a dream,” he said. “I have had an impact on the restaurant industry locally. It’s also a unique name, the name of my son, 16. So Rulber stands for more than one person.”
The Prairie Village spot held a soft opening a week ago in the Meadowbrook Shopping Center, 5358 W. 95th St. De La Torre spent months remodeling the former Another Broken Egg Cafe space for an upscale version of his Mi Ranchito Cocina & Cantina Mexicana with a smaller menu and more grilled items.
Tortillas are cooked on a grill by the front entrance. It’s also where the build-your-own guacamole is made with hand-crafted, fresh-to-order, customizable ingredients — lime juice, orange juice, sea salt, granulated garlic, cilantro, red onions, pineapple, mango, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos and queso cotija. Shrimp and crab are premium add-ons.
Signature items include mesquite grilled fajitas, fired-grilled salmon, grilled shrimp tacos and the Billionaire Burrito (with fired ribeye, grilled shrimp, crab, grilled onions and peppers, pico de gallo, and jack cheese, topped with a chipotle cream sauce, sliced avocados and cilantro). The menu also includes flautas, sandwiches, burgers, pasta and salads.
De La Torre is especially proud of his Costillas de Puerco — baby back ribs, grilled, then simmered in a chile verde sauce or chile Colorado sauce. But one of his own go-to orders is the seafood nachos appetizer.
He is the youngest of a dozen brothers and sisters who grew up on a small Mexican ranch near Michoacan. He was only 5 when he joined his mother, Teresa, in the home kitchen — holding a tray while she ground spices for the family’s mole. (He now uses that same mole recipe in his chicken mole enchiladas.)
He’d rise at 5 a.m. to milk cows and then rush to get to school. After classes, he’d hurry home to herd the goats and tend to the crops.
In 1989, when De La Torre was just 15, he moved to Kansas in “search of the American Dream.” He thought it would be the farm work he had known for a decade. Instead, one of his brothers got him a job as a restaurant dishwasher.
“Two years later I thought, ‘I like this. Maybe I can have a restaurant one day,’” De La Torre said. “In contrast to farm work, there’s no rain or snow. I had a job all the time. I was able to send money back to help my mother. My dad had already passed away.”
In 2004, he opened Mi Ranchito in Olathe with secondhand chairs he picked up for $10 a piece.
While he couldn’t compete on decor, he had a list of seven ingredients for success (which has since expanded to 11):
- Clean restaurants. Above the health department standards.
- Excellent service.
- Excellent food. High-quality ingredients, as fresh as possible.
- Friendly employees.
- Customers first. “We listen to our customers and give them what they want service-wise.”
- Teamwork.
- Positive attitude.
- Urgency. “We have people coming in hungry and they want their food and drink in a timely manner. They might have to get back to work.”
- Focus. “If you are a server, stay close to your tables. If you are a chef, be in the kitchen. If you are the general manager, stay on top of the kitchen, the dining room, the hostess station and the bar.”
- Respect tools. “Make sure they are clean and in good shape — from aprons to spatulas.”
- Consistency. “If the customers received excellent food and service on Monday, they should get the same on Friday.”
Now he has seven Mi Ranchito locations in Lenexa, Olathe and Overland Park in the metro, as well as regional Kansas restaurants in Fort Scott and Mound City. All told, the operation boasts about 250 employees — with 25 now at Rulber’s. His wife, Ana, and their children all work in the restaurants.
De La Torre also eats in one of the restaurants every day, sometimes doing a stint as chef, making sure he is personally trying the food and service. But the Mi Ranchito restaurants already have an extensive menu with no room for new items.
He signed the lease for the 4,559-square-foot space in Meadowbrook in October. A photo of his late parents, Teresa and Nicolas, hangs on the back wall.
“We love to serve. We love to make people happy,” De La Torre said. “People go out just to eat. But if you come to my restaurant I want you to enjoy. Being at a table with your family and friends, it’s a special moment. You are here for the experience.”
Hours for Rulber’s are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Meadowbrook, just east of Nall Avenue, is now at 100% occupancy with such tenants as The Big Biscuit, Betty Rae’s Ice Cream, The Bar Prairie Village and Aqua-Tots Swim School.
This story was first published by Startland News.
