Well here it is! Elijah and I went out, on a spontaneous en-devour to interviews some folks at the Palo Santo Anniversary event! We interviewed Palo Santo themselves (duh) Sanchos BBQ, Clay Valley Studios and Bandera Coffe! Here is the video and down below is the full interviews from everyone :) enjoy
The video!!!
Palo Santos
Could you explain what we're celebrating here today? "We're here gathered in McAllen Texas, just celebrating small business. Just getting together. When we first started, we started in our garage and spent about three years kind of figuring out the whole process of screen printing and kind of fine-tuning our process. And then from there, we moved into this space here. Once we had that, you know, we have a lot of friends growing up here in the community in the scene...we just thought it'd be fun to kind of get together, kind of celebrate each other. This is our third year doing that. It's been going good. Just kind of celebrating small business and sharing the night."
As a service to the community and an outlet to see visions turn into products. How has this been for you? How do you feel being able to be part of the process? " It's been really great to kind of see a lot of the people that we print for put out their creative process, some of the direction that they're excited about artistically and creatively. Doing the work that we've been able to do, with screen printing and fulfilling these merchandise orders for the different kind of social vendors, local vendors and community members. It's been really interesting. We've got to know a lot of people. It's been a really good way for for all of us to get back in touch with kind of what people are doing out there. And yeah, I just seen the process working. We've we worked with churches. We worked with all the different coffee shops around the valley, work with creatives, artists, bands. It's always fun, every day we're working on something a little different and we really enjoy just the process. The artistic approach with each individual job. Each each job kind of requires a little extra hand on it and It's really fun to kind of see the end product.
From printing to now printing your own shirts under a self made brand. What led you into this? Yeah, so as we've gotten into this business of screen printing and kind of learning the whole model of the screen printing business, we’re locals growing up here in the scene. My partner Andy and I have grown up in the music scene, playing in bands, and we have a long love for this South Texas region. Over the last five years, doing this kind of work, we’ve noticed that there’s just not a lot of representation in terms of celebratory South Texas cultural nostalgic t-shirts and garments.We reminisce about old things from our childhood, like murals or old businesses we used to visit that are no longer around. It’s been a fun way to celebrate South Texas. At the same time, it’s a great opportunity for us to work with many of the artists we’ve printed for. It helps us build relationships, and we can provide an extra platform for artists to create something fun and creative. We pay them a small fee and give them their own t-shirts to share with their friends and family, helping to promote each other’s work. Yeah, we're just getting started. It’s a fun project, and we’re excited to see how it turns out!
Top Right - Shirts for Ante Books
Bottom - Restock Shirts for Bandera
I think it's cool that you're incorporating artists to design some the shirts. What have your thoughts been with the designs? "Yeah, so, like I said, working with all the different artists has been really fun. One of the artists we’re really excited about is Kandi Kasket from Alamo, Texas. She’s a tattoo artist who works at Trenton Point Tattoos over in Trenton, and she has a really cool style that reflects cholo and Latino lowrider vibes. We really enjoy what she’s doing, so that collaboration has been exciting. We had a lot of fun during that photo shoot! It’s pretty wide open for us, and we’re trying to cater to different styles and see what people respond to. Each artist has their own unique approach, and we believe there’s room for everyone to be celebrated. We’re looking forward to slowly extending those opportunities and collaborating as much as we can. Obviously, time and resources will play a role, but we’re eager to work with any artist out there. Every artist has their own style, and we believe there’s a voice for everyone."
Bandera Coffee
There's a story when it comes to coffee. What led Bandera to go from an idea to the establishment that it is today?
Ms. Bandera - He has a background in coffee!
Mr. Bandera - Yeah, coffee was such a hobby for such a long time. We were kind of doing our grown-up jobs. We had full-time jobs at the time and we moved to Harlingen and there wasn't much of a coffee scene at the time 2015. We had a lot of support a lot of encouragement
Ms. Bandera - A friend actually asked us to do a pop-up because they knew we were interested in starting a business and they were like just pop up in front of my shop. Let's just try it. It was Jackson Street Antiques. Yeah, in Harlingen. That was our first pop-up and after about a month of pop-ups, we just like locked down a brick and mortar because we were asked so often. 'Where's your spot? Where's your spot?' Yeah. So I would say it's like his coffee background and then just a desire to, like, put something fresh into that area, and a place that we'd want to like, hang out.
Mr. Bandera - A lot of it was a gamble, we took a lot of gambles for sure, and just like, chances on ourselves. So it's a lot of believing in yourself to some degree and, you know, with a lot of support that we had, even with the folks that were there, at one point, Rio Grande Grill. They had offered us some good tips on like starting a business.
When I look at Bandera, the environment, the employees, the photos
It feels like a home. What could you say about that?
Ms. Bandera - I think it is. Yeah, yeah for sure. We definitely try and not just emulate it, but make it so and not for just the staff, but for everybody. There's a lot of intention that we put into it, and I think we try and treat our customers, just like our staff, which is just like our family. Just like our friends.
Mr. Bandera - I think we're all just trying to have a good time.
Ms. Bandera - It feels like home.
Mr. Bandera - If we make you feel like home, it'll feel good. You know. Yeah. We're just trying to have fun. It's fun as we're getting to know our customer as they come in. The kind of relationships that starts to extend from the bar to the customer as well. I mean, that's what we're doing. We're making connections all day every day, we're behind the bar people get to know us quick.
Y'all recently just celebrated your anniversary as well
How was that? How does that make you feel?
Mr. Bandera - Accomplished, good!
Ms. Bandera - A lot of room for growth still, but we're really proud of like how far we've come. Man, I didn't think, I mean I think we we know we can do it but you just never know what it's gonna look like so hitting that six year mark was was crazy and then feeling the support. Just knowing that we want to do more expanding a little bit here and there. Providing more of like a space.
Do you have a favorite drink and what would you recommend at the shop for those stopping by?
Mr. Bandera - Oh, so I'm kind of boring and I kind of just do ice Americanos.
We're playing around with syrups right now. I think from our last seasonal menu, the shrubs have been my favorite. The strawberry shandy that we got going on is fun.
Ms. Bandera - The pineapple matcha was a really good one too. From the seasonal. That was one of my favorites. Anything tart refreshing like the espresso tonic, grapefruit shandy, and strawberry Shandy. Those are my favorites.
Any final comments
Thanks for supporting. Come and visit. If you haven't, come check us out. We're also doing alcohol now. It's not just coffee. Uh you know and as we continue to stick around we'll continue to grow and kind of just grow our menu at the same time, so stick with us.
Clay Valley Studio
How is the new shop? What have y'all been up to since the opening? "I really like the reception so far. Having our neighbors involved has been great, especially since we go to Harlingen Art Night every month. Harlingen has a nice, growing creative culture, and we appreciate the foot traffic that brings people to our space. So far, we’ve been offering pottery classes and hand-building classes in Weslaco, but we’re getting ready to offer a membership soon. This will allow people to have their own space to work, store their art, and make ceramics without worrying about where to fire their pieces or where to keep their work. It will be their own area to create.
Besides selling your own creations,
What would you say you're providing to the community with your services? "There aren’t many spots to do ceramics because starting up can be expensive. We’re trying to not only offer pottery classes but also introduce various hand-building techniques. There’s a whole spectrum of hand-building methods—techniques like graffito, marbling, and narakami, which are more niche and less popular than traditional wheel throwing. We want to show people that ceramics can include sculpture and other techniques beyond just pottery."
What is it about creating ceramics that you enjoy the most? "One of my favorite aspects is glazing. No matter how much experience you have, it never looks the same, and I love that element of surprise and experimentation with different combinations. Sculpting is another passion of mine, especially figurative sculpting. I enjoy taking an idea and turning it into a physical form; it’s incredible to see a thought come to life".
If someone is too nervous or shy but wants to come out to a ceramics making class what is something you'd say? "For anyone who might feel nervous about trying ceramics, I always emphasize that our classes are beginner-friendly. It’s rare for someone to take a class without any prior experience and not be able to create something by the end of it. I show examples of student work to demonstrate that it’s okay to mess up in the beginning; that’s natural. You just need to keep trying, and after some hands-on experience, it will start to click. It really does get easier!"
Sancho's BBQ
What made you want to start Sancho's BBQ?
"Well, honestly, man, starting Sancho BBQ was like a nickname back in college, right? So I always had the idea of the influences growing up here in the Valley. If you've been to the food truck, man, we have a lot of infused Mexican cuisine into our barbecue. So, what we do a lot there is homemade food, man. We make a lot of homemade flour tortillas and sides from scratch. We cook our briskets South Texas style, using mesquite on an offset smoker, and then we incorporate it into our breakfast tacos, right? We have a lot of breakfast specialty items, like chilaquiles verdes and huevos a la mexicana—everything that you grew up eating at home with your grandma and your mom. We try to replicate that but incorporate it with Texas style, so that's where the Tex-Mex comes into play."
How long would you say it took you to hone your craftsmanship dealing with brisket? "It took a while. Brisket alone takes a long process, man. I probably messed up hundreds of times. But brisket and then the craft of the tacos is different, man.
We like incorporating both, and it takes a lot of—you gotta have a good palate to see what goes well, man. You know, because brisket's really salty, but you gotta even it out with the acidity of other things, like cilantro, onions, salsa, and lime, all wrapped up in a fresh flour tortilla. So, that's one thing you gotta keep in mind when you're combining both."
Were you doing anything else before committing to Sancho's BBQ?
"I’ve been a technician for 13 years, man, but it wasn't something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was already there, but growing up, I worked in taquerias because my dad had a taqueria, and my grandma had a taqueria. So I've been working in taquerias since I was young." Now would you say that with so many family generations of taquerias. Do you feel that it's been passed down onto you?
"Oh yeah, dude. It's one of those things that as a child, you grow up and when you’re a kid, you see things. Then when you grow up, you're like, 'Man, my dad or my mom did this,' and you think, 'I can replicate that too.' There’s a lot of work ethic that goes into play, you know? There are a lot of lived experiences you grow up with. You think, 'I could do this better than what my dad did,' and incorporate that into my business. Back then, social media wasn’t big, right? It probably didn't even exist at all.
So that's one advantage I have in this day and age. Now, with social media, everybody's influenced by what you put out there in pictures on Instagram."
Is there a menu item you would recommend?
"Honestly, bro, everything on the menu is great, but if it were up to me, I’m a big fan of green chilaquiles. The El Rey taco is the go-to taco, man. You can't go wrong with a bed of chips, tomatillo salsa, melted cheese, and then we put chopped brisket and a runny egg on top of the taco. You can't go wrong with that. That's probably one of my favorite ones."
Any final comments?
Hey man, come check us out! We're located behind Jitterz on Conway, a legendary spot—probably the best coffee shop in the state of Texas. I want to say that for sure in the Valley. We're located back there on Conway. We're open Thursday through Sunday, until 12 o'clock till sold out.
Thanks for watching/reading!
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