Texas Community Rallies Around Flooded Family Restaurant

When Wyatt Wentreck heard his family's favorite restaurant was underwater, he grabbed a shovel and headed straight to Goat Creek Road.

Taqueria Jalisco, a beloved Mexican restaurant in Kerrville, Texas, saw floodwaters rise nearly to its roof last week when creeks feeding the Guadalupe River overflowed. The family-owned business employs dozens of workers, and its owner is scrambling to keep paying them while the restaurant sits closed.

But the community isn't waiting around. On a sweltering Wednesday afternoon, volunteers and employees worked together hauling out mud-caked furniture and scrubbing down the patio.

"This is probably where we come the most," said Wentreck, who couldn't imagine his town without the restaurant. "When we heard that it got hit so bad, I just wanted to come out and help how I could."

John Martinez, a local air-conditioning repairman, showed up to replace the restaurant's HVAC unit. He and his father eat breakfast there every single day. Martinez said this flood hit differently than last year's disaster, coming through the creeks instead of the main river.

"A lot of people are like, 'I can't believe I'm back here again, volunteering, helping,'" Martinez said. "But that's what we're here for. We got to do whatever it takes to get this town back."

Juan Gonzalez, whose daughter and son-in-law own Taqueria Jalisco, has lived in Kerr County for decades. He'd never seen Goat Creek rise so high. Standing amid the destruction, he struggled to find words for what the community's response meant to his family.

The Ripple Effect

This marks the second year in a row that Kerr County residents have rallied together after devastating floods. Kerr Together, a local organization coordinating relief efforts, is helping connect volunteers with supplies and matching businesses that need heavy machinery for debris removal.

The outpouring shows how a neighborhood restaurant can become something bigger than just a place to eat. For Martinez and his father, it's their daily breakfast spot. For the Wentreck family, it's where they gather most often. For dozens of employees, it's their livelihood.

Now the whole community is fighting to bring it back, one shovelful of mud at a time. The work is hard and the summer heat unforgiving, but volunteers keep showing up because Taqueria Jalisco isn't just a restaurant to them anymore.