Chances are if you’ve spent much time on Colorado’s Front Range you’ve had a half-n-half breakfast (half spicy, half mild) burrito at Santiago’s. It was the idea of owner Carmen Morales to bring her favorite food growing up to her customers, and she has seen tremendous success in Colorado.
Morales opened her first Santiago’s in 1991 in her hometown of Brighton. It’s now just one of 30 Santiago’s restaurants in the state — from Sterling to Castle Rock.
“I would run into a lot of family and friends that did not have a job,” Morales said. “And since I believe I’m a motivator I said ‘They’ll work for me,’ so I opened up the restaurant to put everybody to work.”
Working full time for the state at the time and raising three daughters, Morales put her faith into her new business, even naming it after Saint James.
“I’m not egotistical so I don’t want my name on that you know, so I thought ‘But I need all the help I can get,'” Morales said. “When you start a new business you never know so I named it after a saint.”