Oteo Restaurant - Finding Passion in the Food Business

restaurantsmexican

Aug 5

Mosi Oteo is a young restauranteur in the Utah Valley. The name Oteo might sound familiar to you—the Oteo’s are a family of 12 who moved from Mexico to San Diego, and eventually to Provo, and are behind many new Utah restaurants like Tortilla Bar, Masa Restaurant, and their latest, Oteo Restaurant.

Mosi grew up watching his father master the kitchen in variety of restaurants and knew he eventually wanted to enter the food business. So when the opportunity was presented for Mosi, his father, and a few siblings to open Tortilla Bar in 2012, they jumped into it and within months turned a run-down former tattoo parlor in South Orem into a trendy, upscale Mexican small restaurant. Their family restaurant took off immediately after they opened their doors.

Over the years Mosi has seen his share of ups and downs. His second food venture, Masa Restaurant, was his first go at a business where he was at the helm. He poured his blood, sweat, and tears into a brand new restaurant and into a brand that he felt would reflect everything he loved about Tortilla Bar, but with his own added flair. But as Mosi explains in the interview, Masa Restaurant did not go well for him. He broke up with his business partners after just a few months and was left feeling booted out of his dream creation.

So the family re-joined… and just two months later, they launched Oteo Restaurant in June 2014 in Lindon, Utah. If you want a story about passion, perseverance, family, and purpose… here it is: Mosi Oteo with Oteo Restaurant.

In today’s episode of The Utah Foodie Podcast, our host Chase Murdock sits down with Mosi to talk through his last several years in the Utah food scene.

This episode of The Utah Foodie was hosted by Chase Murdock and produced by Ryan Samanka. Visit our episode archive on Ventricle Presents, and stay connected with us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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