Steve Santana Found Success with Masa, Bare Bones Kitchens, and Slow Growth

When Steve Santana was approached about opening a taco concept in South Beach, he emerged from his initial research determined to make his own tortillas, formed from house-nixtamalized dough. It didn’t matter that Santana had no idea what he was doing, or that he’d only been cooking professionally for a few years. He wanted real-deal tacos. So Santana read books, mostly in Spanish, and scoured the internet for technical advice. 

“At...