The tacos success coincided with the coming of the best athletes coming from all over the world, at the middle of 1968, to celebrate in our country the Olympic Games, and also with a general sense of modernity influencing all kind of activities in the country, when the exchange rate was of $12.50 Mexican pesos per dollar.
That renovation climate developed even further the popular Mexican gastronomy to innovate the traditional dishes. As a result, during those years the tacos al pastor were served through the southern part of Mexico city and specially in Ave. Revolucion, where in August of 1968 opened the first Taqueria called El Fogoncito, managed by Mrs. Martha Avalos Rocha.

It was a family business, where they served at that time the not to well known tacos al pastor. The small business in not time at all became successful, because the owner knew how to make a difference, with a seal of high quality and good service conquering the preference of her neighbors and pedestrians. Very soon the El Fogoncito adopted a peculiar style in the preparation of their dishes, having a difference with respect to the other taquerias in the zone and very soon the business capacity from four tables was not enough to serve so many clients.

Two years later in 1970, the second El Fogoncito taqueria was opened, in Leibinitz Street in the Colonia Anzures, back from the famous hotel Camino Real. This business was smaller than the one in Av. Revolucion; with no serving tables and capacity for only four standing persons. However very soon they discovered that they could compete with any other food business in the zone.
It was in this small place where the Gringas were invented in an original manner. Most of the clients were students and two American girls, Sharon Smith and Jennifer Anderson who used to eat the tacos al pastor but did not quite identified the difference between corn and flour tortilla always preferred the white ones that were used for quesadillas having their tacos with meat and cheese in a white tortilla.
The customers began to request the same as « the gringas» which means as the American girls and as this was a daily repetition they finally named the new combination as Gringas. At the beginning El Fogoncito did nothing to patent the new combination and name and when decided to do so it was not possible as it was of public dominion but everybody in the food business knows its origins and the true story.

The third Taqueria was established in 1974 under the same family ownership, located in Felix Parra in San Jose Insurgentes, becoming so popular in the area that many others started to open new taquerias too. The fourth El Fogoncito taqueria was successfully inaugurated in 1979 also in the Leibinitz street but this time the country economic crisis in the early 80s harmed the business so badly that they even thought in selling it. However under the direction of the new generation of family members, who started new marketing tactics to develop the taquerias, all branches were unified with the same company image under one name and dedicated themselves to make out of this family business, a successful one.
With a corporate image, El Fogoncito became one of most prestigious taquerias not only in Mexico City but also in the Mexican Republic. Facing the expansion needs of this business a new approach was contemplated as a new possibility to develop the company trough the system of franchises.
In 1991, El Fogoncito began this new schema and in 1995 had already granted 16 franchises not only in Mexico City but also in important cities in the Mexican Republic.

  

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