Help Mama’s Papas food truck dreams come true!

Hi there! My name is Tracie and I’m the owner & chef of Mama’s Papas, a small Latina owned Bay Area food vendor specializing in unique Latin/Hawaiian fusion eats as well as unique fried treats.

Ever since childhood, I’ve dreamt of being a chef in my own restaurant. After many years of bouncing from job to job, I had lost what I thought was one of the greatest jobs I had due to the .com crumble in the early 2000’s. After that I had set my sights on my dream and enrolled myself into the Le Cordón Bleu program at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. After graduating CCA, I went and moved to Honolulu, Hi and started my internship at Duke’s Waikiki. I had learned how to prepare the famous Hawaiian dish Kalua Pork during my years out in Hawaii, hence my Hawaiian/Salvadoran fusion pupusas that would come later down the line. After a few years, I relocated back to the Bay Area where my family was and worked in the food industry for a little while after, then had to leave the industry because the food service hours just didn’t line up with being a mom with little ones. Fast forward 14 years and things changed again thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic.

During the start of the pandemic, it seemed like everyone’s life and career was on hold. After losing my job in education, I became restless and asked myself what I’m doing with my life. That’s when I went back to my roots, took a chance and started selling my papa rellenas (stuffed potato balls) from home. One customer turned into two, which turned into 4, then 8, then 16 and so on… My papas started becoming really high in demand and I thought… maybe just maybe I can really do this! I started experimenting with more unique recipe ideas and then got into some Vegan cooking for my daughter… little did I know that once I started offering Vegan items, it took me to whole other level. I then linked up with other local food business owners and started expanding out of my home kitchen to a more commercial kitchen and then started doing pop ups around the Bay Area. A year and a half later I’ve grown so much and have seen my dream start to become a reality. It really hit me once my dad told me I was living his “American Dream”, that’s when I knew I was doing what I was put on this planet to do!

I’m starting a Go Fund Me to help get Mama’s Papas started in obtaining my very own food truck. With the demand for my unique foods at a super high, I need to grow my business and starting at the bottom has gotten me so far already, but I am also supporting my family with my business and do need a little help to get where I need Mama’s Papas to go! The pop up scene is a beautiful thing but I can only do so much with it and I want to step things up and get to the level where my business needs to be. I want to be able to give back to the community and continue to bring smiles to everyone’s faces and bellies around the Bay Area with my food, and I know I can do this once I’m where I need to be. That’s where your help comes in! Regardless with or without Go Fund Me, I am dead set on getting my food trailer and know it will come in time, but with your help, compassion & understanding… it can come a whole lot sooner!

They say, when you support a small business you’re supporting a dream. And it’s all so true! Thank you for all of your support and encouragement, and for taking the time to read this, I appreciate you!