Inspiring Conversations with Carlos R. Mortera of Poio Mexican BBQ

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos R. Mortera. 

Hi Carlos, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Querétaro, Mexico, migrated to the United States when I was around 12 years of age. Growing up with two cultures hasn’t always been the easiest. I never felt Mexican entro be Mexican or American enough to be American, I feel that most children of immigrants go thru this trying to find an identity. I started in the restaurant business because it was something that I liked to do, after dropping out of college, I went back to work in restaurants it was easy and fast money. I worked my way up from washing dishes to serving tables, to eventually I was chef de cuisine, that’s when the opportunity to open a restaurant was offered to me. Me and my business partner at that time opened The Bite, a small sandwich shop restaurant in the city market. I added menu items of how I liked to eat flavors that I enjoyed. When Poio came to fruition, I wanted to do something that would represent me, in Mexico my dad had rotisserie-style chicken restaurants, as a kid I knew I loved the flavors and hope to work at one of them, with the family business. That’s how Poio got started, mixing flavor from my childhood in Mexico and the new flavors that I learned to love growing up in the states, been in Kansas City I wanted to do barbecue and add my twist, by combining Asian flavors that I enjoy to it. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Every day is a learning experience for me, from running a restaurant during a pandemic, I had to learn how to fix equipment or pluming to try to save every penny. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Poio we are known for our wood-fired chicken, we are a non-traditional Mexican and BBQ joint. 

How do you think about luck?
I’m lucky to wake up every morning and go to a job that I enjoy. While providing new flavor to my community. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.poiomezicanbbq.com
• Instagram: @poiomexicanbbq
• Facebook: @poiomexicanbbq