If there’s a community event happening in Waco, Eric Linares is never far away. The man behind QuetzalCo Taco and Eastside Market, Linares is a Waco entrepreneur passionate about bringing people together through food, culture and collaboration.
Having never stepped foot on campus, Linares enrolled at Baylor in 2012 to study entrepreneurship. He arrived for the first time one week before classes started and has been exploring the wonders of Waco ever since.
Growing up in a Latino family in Beaumont, TX, he found himself at the crossroads of Cajun food and Mexican culture. Linares had loved these foods from a young age; however, it was when he took a three-month, solo trip to Mexico after graduation that his thoughts of merging food and culture really came alive.
After returning to Waco, Linares fell into photography and social media management. He briefly handled social media accounts for Black Oak Art and Gather Waco. He quickly began getting connected with many small, local businesses in Waco and started to surround himself with the downtown atmosphere of artists and creatives.
The growing, collaborative and synergistic community of creatives inspired Linares to create something of his own where he could showcase the traditional culture and food he has always loved so much. Enter: QuetzalCo Tacos.
Food is this common thing we all need, so it brings people together. It has a rich culture and story behind it,” Linares said.
“When you look at something on the table, you realize it has decades of people and cooks that have imparted their knowledge to create what’s on the table right now. It’s a testament of our humanity and progress,” he continued.
QuetzalCo started with this desire to bring culture, food and people together. It began as a small pop-up just off campus near the Baylor Science Building, and Linares was blown away by the amount of people who came by to check it out.
“It was cool to see how people really just wanted to support something new and local and something they haven’t seen in Waco before,” Linares said.
Several people who showed up at that first pop-up ended up being extremely influential in his journey. entrepreneurial journey, leading him to more connections with important Waco organizations and events later down the road. Organizations like the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Waco Foundation and Startup Waco were hugely helpful in accelerating QuetzalCo’s growth and recognition.
QuetzalCo’s first big pop-up success was at a vendor event hosted by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Ultimately, QuetzalCo catered to even more vendor events and began to sell at Brotherwell Brewing. It wasn’t long before these events allowed him to get to know other vendors and creators who all needed a space to collaborate and showcase their talents.
It was this vision for a strong and collaborative community that ultimately led Linares to create Eastside Market.
After spending time in Mexico City and other large hubs with bustling markets and lively festivals, Linares wanted to create a space like that in Waco and knew this town had the creative and entrepreneurial capacity to do it. He has always believed that if you want something to happen and you don’t see it, you have to create it yourself. And that’s just what he did.
“Waco is an insanely collaborative city compared to other cities that have a scarcity mentality. There’s a whole different vibe here,” Linares said. “People are hopeful for what Waco can become and they want to help each other so we can all benefit from a strong community. There’s an awesome opportunity for anybody who wants to start something in Waco,” he continued.
Eastside Market is a space dedicated to supporting the many incredibly talented artists, businesses and entrepreneurs in our Waco community. Hosted at Brotherwell Brewing, the market takes place on the third Sunday of every month and serves as a space for the community to stay engaged with one another.
Eastside Market knew they wanted to create a space to connect people, embrace the beauty of local art and unify our community around things we all love: food, drinks and art.
We need to be able to just sit down and talk to somebody next to us and not look at somebody as a stranger,” Linares said.
“The second you see somebody as a stranger, it’s so easy to think of them any which way. When we actually put a face to someone, know who they are and share community with them, then we know they’re not so different from us.”
While he knew there were risks involved in opening a market with novel concepts such as graffiti art, in a part of town that has experienced gentrification, he didn’t want it any other way. Eastside Market is about bringing all sides of Waco together in one space. That was his purpose and he stayed focused on it.
Regardless of what your business is, Linares believes that entrepreneurs have to remember their purpose and focus on the “why” behind everything they do. He encourages other entrepreneurs to stay hungry, be able to pivot and never stop seeking opportunities to put yourself out there. Ultimately, that’s his vision for the future of Waco: to be a cultural hub of people who create, collaborate and connect with one another.
“Always look for opportunities to meet new people and form new relationships. Everyone has valuable resources to offer and nobody can build something great in a vacuum,” Linares shared.
