When Victor Salazar founded Besos Cocina & Cantina four years ago, he wasn't just opening a restaurant. He was aiming to create a place where Round Rock residents could experience authentic Mexican food, music and culture, growing the business into a community gathering spot known for its traditional Mexican dishes and lively weekend entertainment.
The background
Salazar has a background in sales and runs an accounting firm with his wife in Round Rock. An opportunity arose to invest in a startup restaurant, and he decided to get involved.
“I love the challenge,” Salazar said. “I’m really enjoying it. Fortunately, a lot of having a restaurant involves accounting, so it seems to be good to have that background and working here at the restaurant.”
Besos opened in April of 2022, and Salazar said there have been ups and downs over the last four years.
“The hospitality business in general has been rough,” Salazar said. “The margins are thin, but the thing is that in order to do this, you definitely need to have a passion. What drives us is not only can we help the community and hire and serve people, but really the fact that we can share our culture and our food and our music—it’s really nice to have people come in from all walks of life.”
On the menu
The menu offers classic Tex-Mex dishes such as nachos and burritos as well as authentic Mexican food such as mole and menudo.
“We have real, authentic Mexican food, and usually that type of food you find in small hole-in-the-wall restaurants,” Salazar said. “We’re a substantially large restaurant which makes us a little bit unique I think.”
One more thing
On Friday and Saturday nights, Besos brings in DJs who draw in crowds to enjoy the music and dance.
“At about 9:15 or 9:30, all of a sudden people start dancing and it gets pretty crazy,” Salazar said. “People have lots of fun, just smiling and laughing.”
On Sundays, they do karaoke starting at 6 p.m. Upcoming events include Trivia Tuesdays, and Besos hopes to have kids nights Monday with face paint and balloon animals. Working Women Wednesdays is also in the works, with the restaurant bringing in a female DJ.
- 3107 S I-35 Frontage Rd Ste 820, Round Rock
- www.besoscantina.com
