Lima Taverna sits, clandestine, in an East Plano strip mall located near the soon-to-be-revitalized Collin Creek Mall. Eight years ago, Eliseo Figueroa was looking for a spot for what would become Lima Taverna. He was shopping at Macy’s in the old mall when he happened to cross paths with the landlord. Was it fate? Good luck? Whatever it was, Figueroa found a home for his restaurant.
“The landlord gave me the key and told me, ‘If you like it, this is my business card. I will see you the next day.’ So I went the next day to talk to him, and he gave me a good deal. And I said, ‘Why not?’”
Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Figueroa never imagined he’d own a restaurant. “I didn’t have a passion to cook, but to eat,” he tells Local Profile. And what he wanted to eat were the flavors of Peru that he missed.
Figueroa first came to the United States in March of 2000 and was living in Washington, D.C., when he began his journey in the service industry. He started as a busser, food runner and bar back, which evolved into stints as a server, bartender and manager in various Washington restaurants. Like him, many of his peers during this time went on to open restaurants themselves, including Michelin-starred chefs José Andrés and Fabio Trabocchi, among others…