Red or green?
Everyone has a favorite when it comes to this classic question for authentic Mexican sauce. But if you're doing it right, you choose both—especially when you visit Mexican Moose. And no, we're not giving away the actual secret recipe here, but we are unveiling the one irreplaceable component that makes this culinary treasure a success: love.
Santos Flores has a story—a few actually—but his life story begins when his grandmother became "mom" after a devastating car accident that altered his life. But she didn't think twice about Santos and his siblings being raised by anyone else. They were family, and with family, love is the only option—and food.
Mom’s work ethic and cooking skills is what Santos remembers most about growing up in Parlier, California. Mom brought home chilis grown in that area and made large batches of sauce and seasoned meats, and corn tortillas, doubled up the way they ought to be to catch all of the juices. Her cooking was undeniably an inspiration to Santos, especially for disguising vegetables so cleverly and deliciously. But the other inspiration of her can-do attitude stuck with Santos as he entered into adulthood, always taking on multiple jobs and doing them wholeheartedly. You have to work hard to live well and his role model—mom—showed him just how sweetly that could pay off.
He was a janitor at a car dealership before realizing that he could sell cars and work his way up the ladder, which is how we got to Missoula and where he is now, managing a sales team at CarMart 360 on South Reserve Street. Once in high country, though, Santos began missing the taste of home. But nothing satisfied Santos’s deeply rooted standard for quality Mexican cuisine so he decided to bring “home” to the mountains by way of California-grown chilis, and of course, his family.
Once he moved his mom, nieces, nephews, and his sister out to a shared home in Lolo, they all began the symphony of cooking together once again, just as they had done when Santos was growing up. They also recruited the younger generation, including Santos’s daughter.
“When my sister goes back to California, she brings back batches of chilis—it’s the only way to keep the authenticity,” said Santos.
It’s surreal for him to realize how far they’ve come as a family. Those early days of mom working multiple jobs to keep quality food on the table have led--through perseverance--to a family business that pulls the talents of each member, feeding the Missoula community.
“I want to thank my mom for everything she's done for me. Even in the hard times when we didn’t have much,” said Santos. “I’ll never be able to repay her for everything but I’m trying.”
With Mexican Moose, there’s never any question whether family can step in to help out. They show up every day for one another. Now that’s something to “taco” 'bout.