Opera singer and restaurateur brings Taco Time to La Jolla

From the perspective of Cesar Sanchez, a tenor opera singer of 25 years and one of the founders of a new Mexican restaurant in La Jolla, music and food are more connected than you might think.

“They’re both arts,” Sanchez said. “They’re both a way of communicating with people. Even if you don’t know them, you can communicate with them through food, you can communicate with your voice when you sing.

“They both require excellence, a lot of discipline and a lot of passion. And the passion that I don’t have right now of giving to my singing career — because I’ve done it for 25 years — I’m giving to every single taco I put out there.”

Sanchez’s restaurant, Taco Time Cantina, is having its grand opening Saturday, July 26, at 7556 Fay Ave. He said it aims to deliver “Mexican food you can actually feel great about eating,” with made-from-scratch salsas and frescas, stone-ground tortillas and more.

The menu includes tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, fries and vegetarian alternatives. The quartet of signature tacos includes rib eye, dry-rubbed beef rib, steak and shrimp and sauteed adobo shrimp.

The restaurant features an open kitchen in what Sanchez describes as a warm and classy environment.

This isn’t Sanchez’s first endeavor as a restaurateur. Before he got to work on Taco Time Cantina, he ran Steak and Bones Taco in Hillcrest during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When that business wasn’t fruitful, he connected with Samer Cholakh, Ryan Salem and Dino De Angelis, who are now his business partners.

Sanchez’s family life was steeped in food, he said.

“I was a little kid and they used to put [me on] a three-step stool,” he recalled. “I’d flip the omelets or burgers or enchiladas, stuff like that.

“It was a way for me to connect with people and with my own family. … I think that was actually our love language — that and making fun of ourselves.”

Sanchez started his own taco cart at a young age, which he parlayed into a brick-and-mortar torta restaurant in Tijuana. At just 17, he was running the business, taking singing lessons and attending school.

His opportunities blossomed further after he earned a scholarship at Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria.

In addition to his singing career, he worked at restaurants across Europe.

Often, Sanchez would secure singing gigs through word of mouth after working at restaurants during the day. Most summers, restaurant work became a full-time gig.

Eventually, he decided to return home, be with his family and fulfill a longtime vision of building a business on authentic, fast-casual Mexican food.

Looking back, he said he’s proud of what he accomplished overseas.

“My voice was a ticket to see the whole world,” Sanchez said. “It’s been an unbelievable ride. … People say ‘Do you have any regrets?’ No, I have no regrets. I can only be grateful.

“I wanted to do singing first because there’s an age [window] for it, vs. business, [where] there’s never an age to do it.”

With his performance days behind him, Sanchez says music still plays a role at Taco Time. One of the cashiers is a six-year student of his, and they’ll sometimes sing to customers.

“We got to learn a song so when we see a couple or someone sitting by themselves, we got to go and serenade them,” he said.

“If they have a birthday, I will also sing for them.”

For more information about Taco Time, go to @tacotimecantina on Instagram or call 858-352-6310.