Carlos Manzano was 16 years old when he emigrated from Mexico and got his first job as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Santos Garcia was 20 years old when he did the same thing. The two spent the next two decades working just about every job in the restaurant business before creating their own restaurant, Blue Corn Harvest, which opened in Cedar Park in 2012. A second location in Georgetown opened near the downtown Square in November 2017. “It’s a dream,” Manzano said. “I think every Mexican that comes to this country, you look to progress. You look to be somebody.” Manzano and Garcia said they strive to bring locally grown food to patrons. They branded Blue Corn as a farm-to-table restaurant offering Southwestern and Mexican cuisines with dishes including seafood and gluten-free options. About 40-50 percent of food and drinks sold at Blue Corn are produced locally or within Texas, Manzano said, including coffee, spices, vodka, meats, dairy, wine and beer. When deciding what kind of restaurant they wanted to open, the duo said they wanted to use as many local products as they could as a way of showing appreciation to local farmers, Santos said. “We were talking about how we can express ourselves, and what a better way to do it (than) help the farmers?” Santos said. “I think that’s one way to help the local farmers that are working really hard to put everything together, so whenever we can, we support that by buying their products.” Depending on local farmers means the menu is constantly changing to stay in line with produce and products that are in season. However, Manzano and Garcia do not mind and see it as a challenge to come up with new dishes. Manzano and Garcia said they are focused on their Georgetown location for now but are considering future expansions including in Round Rock.