The day starts at 7 a.m. at Marianas Taco Shop. The staff starts slicing and dicing all the vegetables as they prepare the salsas and marinate the meats.

The staff is mostly made up of the Santoyo family. Brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, nieces and nephews gather to take orders, cook or serve.

The taco shop has been owned by brother and sister duo Miguel and Sofia Santoyo since 2009. The pair had never worked in a restaurant before but said they decided to open their own taco shop because they saw there was a lack of restaurants in the area serving authentic Mexican food.

“We come from a family where everybody cooks, our mom and all of our brothers and sisters,” Sofia said. “So the cooking part we knew how to do.”

Sofia and Miguel are from Michoacán, a southern state in Mexico. The pair and the rest of their siblings, like most Mexican families, grew up cooking alongside their parents, Sofia said.

Miguel said the family even ran a small food stand outside of their home in Mexico serving similar dishes they serve today at Marianas.

Years later, the family moved to California where taco shops can be found on every corner, Miguel said.

About 15 years ago some of the family moved to Frisco and opened a furniture store. When they noticed the lack of taco shops or taquerias in Frisco, Miguel and Sofia decided to open their own restaurant.

Marianas Taco Shop is named after their sister-in-law, Mariana, who died in a car accident. Sofia and Miguel wanted to honor her memory especially for their brother, Mariana’s husband, who helped invest money in the restaurant. Mariana’s children also help out in the restaurant from time to time.

When opening the taco shop, the brother and sister team wanted to not only serve authentic Mexican food but also food with a California style.

They explained that the California style uses non-processed meat and prepares the salsas and carne asada (grilled beef) differently than the Tex-Mex style.

Miguel also said that the restaurant’s meals are made daily using fresh ingredients.

The brother and sister team said their business has thrived primarily through word of mouth because their location is so discreet.

“Many people can’t see us, so a lot of our customers learn about us because someone told them about us,” Miguel said.

Marianas Taco Shop is like a Mexican food enclave in old downtown Frisco. It is located behind a beauty salon in the historic portion of Main Street. Their signage is small but people can be seen going in and out of the small eatery, especially during lunch hour.

Some of the restaurant’s California-style-inspired dishes include the California burrito ($7.99) and the wet burrito ($7.99), which has ground beef or shredded chicken with rice, beans and enchilada sauce topped with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and cotija cheese.

Customers can offer menu item ideas for the owners to take into consideration. One customer-created dish is the Hell Billy burrito ($6.99), which has ground beef, rice, cheese, grilled onions, cilantro and sour cream.

Other than burritos, Marianas Taco Shop also serves other Mexican traditional dishes such as tacos, tortas, menudo, tostadas and enchiladas.

Marianas Taco Shop also provides delivery and catering services.

Miguel and Sofia have rented another space within the same building and plan to expand the restaurant.

“Because we’re so small a lot of customers come in, pick up their order and leave, but we would like them to stay and eat here,” Miguel said. “So we’re expanding to allow for more customers to sit and enjoy their meals.”

Miguel and Sofia expect to only be closed one day to knock down a wall sometime in December and expect the new added space to be ready for the start of the new year.

“Hopefully this expansion will allow more people to take more notice of our restaurant,” Miguel said.