Veronica Hernandez opened Frutas Locas Y Más, LLC, as a family-operated food truck featuring authentic Mexican food in May of 2018. As the name states, there are crazy fruit-inspired creations! “And More” includes such wonderful offerings as champurrado, carne asada fries, pozole and of course, tamales!
Veronica’s specialty homemade Mexican style treats and snacks can’t be found at any other Mexican food places in The Dalles, and her food has steadily grown in popularity. By 2019, the business was able to open its brick-and-mortar location as a family-style restaurant at 623 E 2nd Street in The Dalles. Veronica runs the kitchen, her husband Francisco orders products, her daughter takes orders and cleans when she isn’t in school, and Veronica’s son helps manage the restaurant.
While the pandemic hit all restaurant businesses hard, Frutas Locas Y Más was able to survive with the addition of some regular local catering contacts. In 2022, the restaurant began offering home delivery through DoorDash and Uber Eats, creating enough sales to support hiring an additional employee. In 2023, Veronica obtained business assistance through the Mt. Hood Economic Alliance’s microlending program to secure working capital to finance wages and pay the business’s property taxes, overhead and expenses. Veronica’s success story is an important milestone for diversity, equity and inclusion in local small business lending.