Brittany Kelley
BUDA — After more than a decade, Joaquin Nafar and his wife achieved their dream of opening up their own restaurant, Treze, now open in downtown Buda.
“Everybody who’s been working in this business has the dream to open your own restaurant and that was mine from the beginning,” explained Nafar.
He began cooking at the age of 15 and took to it immediately, as he enjoyed making food for others to enjoy. This rewarding feeling is the same reason he aimed to start his own business.
“[I] just wanted to have people eat good food, [like I cook] for my wife, my family,” said Nafar.
Despite knowing his goal in 1990, the process took time. He first began as a dishwasher, until he worked his way up to the chef position at several restaurants over time. From there, his wife was continuously on the lookout for the perfect spot, when she found a building on Main Street. The family purchased the property in 2018 and with support from the city of Buda and the Buda Economic Development Corporation, were able to construct a new building for the restaurant. Now, nearly three decades later, the family-owned business finally opened its doors.
The food, explained the chef, is simple, but good, with options such as chicken tortilla soup, a BLT sandwich, hamburgers and more. Specifically, Chip’s Ruben is Nafar’s current favorite and honors the building’s architect, who helped the family tremendously: “We asked him what his favorite sandwich is [and implemented it]. We owe him a lot.”
Since its opening Sept. 26, Nafar shared that many customers have praised the sandwich shop, as there weren’t many options before. However, the type of food is not only what makes the restaurant stand out, he said, sharing that fresh ingredients enhance the flavor and are important to him and his wife.
Nafar has been working each day in the restaurant, cooking, while his wife runs the day-to-day operations. Although it’s difficult, he admits, it’s worth it after all these years.
"I’ve been dreaming [about this] for all these years and finally, I got it. And that feels good," said Nafar. "We built this place as a family, for families, and we can't wait to welcome our neighbors and share good food with everyone in Buda.”
Treze is located at 318 Main St. in downtown Buda. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.For more information, visit www.trezebuda.com.
