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San Clemente Journal

Victor Avila - A Man for All Seasons

Jun 17, 2024 09:27AM ● By Mary Colarik

Victor and Judy’s wedding in Kona, Hawaii.

by Mary Colarik

Victor Avila’s family originally hails from Penjamo, Guanajuato, Mexico, a small village located in a mostly agricultural area in the heart of Mexico. He is one of six children born to Salvador and Margarita Avila. 

After WWII, Salvador was living and working in America. He returned to Mexico every two years; thus, all the siblings are two years apart. Eventually, he was able to relocate the entire family to Southern California where they opened their very first restaurant in 1966 in Huntington Park. Mama Margarita’s authentic Mexican recipes were expertly fine-tuned through generations of her family. All the meals being prepared with special attention to freshness and quality. Papa engaged the whole family in the operation, everybody pitched in cooking, serving, cleaning and washing dishes. This family with humble beginnings was ultimately able to expand their Avila El Ranchito restaurants to 13 locations throughout LA and Orange Counties. The restaurants have seen 50 plus years of success with the second and third generations owning, operating and financing the individual locations. 

The Avila Family, Christmas 2022.

 

San Clemente resident, Victor, owns the establishment on Del Mar and the restaurant in Santa Ana. His son, Marcus owns the Laguna Niguel and Orange locations, son, Michael owns the Laguna Beach spot and daughter, Elyse runs the Seal Beach place that relocated from Long Beach. All three of his children attended college and are graduates of Berkeley, USC and San Diego. Their educational background has helped keep the restaurants current while still adhering to the family values of hard work and exceptional customer service. 

A mere five years after Salvador and Margarita’s success with their Huntington Park establishment, Victor and his brother, Sergio decided to sell their cars to open another restaurant in Long Beach. The brothers were the first two of Avila’s second-generation family members to open their own El Ranchito restaurant. Not only have these restaurants provided stability and an ongoing livelihood for the Avila family, but also for many employees as well who are treated like family, some who have worked with them for 35+ years; one server being with the business since 1966.

 The pandemic as we all are aware had a huge impact on restaurants, especially in 2020 and 2021 when indoor dining was not permitted. Victor said that before the pandemic five to six percent of their business was ‘to-go’ orders, during the pandemic 100% of their business was ‘to-go.’ We had a little chuckle about how fun it was to get Avila’s El Ranchito’s pitchers of margaritas to go during that unusual time. He did not lay off his employees, he simply cut back everybody’s hours. He generously offered his employees food to take home for their families during the pandemic, including, tortillas, rice, and beans from the restaurant once per week, all on the honor system. In the restaurant business statistics show that one out of 10 makes it. His family’s unity and passionate commitment to a strong work ethic, never forgetting their humble beginnings, has been a vast reason for their success and longevity.

Racing his Lotus 26R.

 Victor is full of life at age 75, energetic and engaging. In his younger years he worked as a mechanic, surfed in Hawaii and was a ski bum for two years. Soon, like the rest of his family, he was back working at the family business and raising his children with his first wife. Victor married his second wife, Judy, in February. She shares his love of adventure. They both compete in triathlons, enjoy skiing, scuba diving and traveling. They have qualified and completed the Ironman Triathlon on the Big Island in Hawaii. Not only has Victor been an excellent skier for years, but he has also been an avid Heli skier since the 1970s.  Always up for a new challenge he and Judy were recently in Alyeska, Alaska where Victor skied Christmas Chute, a ski run for expert skiers only. (The double black diamond 1,000-foot-long run has a 50-degree pitch in-bounds.) Not one to rest on his accomplishments, he became a long-distance triathlete in 2011 at age 62, winning in his age group in the Ironman Fortaleza, Brazil in 2014, qualifying him for the Ironman World Championship in 2015. Luckily, Judy is an endurance sports nutritionist, encouraging them both to eat the proper combination of healthy foods; allowing their bodies to stay strong and functioning well to continue to participate in the extreme sports that they both enjoy so much. He has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and enjoys rock climbing too.
Victor told this writer that he wants to give his children and grandchildren experiences rather than stuff. He wants them to find their passions too. He likes spending quality time with his children and grandchildren taking them on many thrilling excursions, traveling to 
different states and countries. He is happy to share his enthusiasm of helicopter skiing and other adventurous diversions with the younger generation. Victor grew up hunting with his dad, so he has continued the tradition with his sons and grandsons taking them fishing and hunting in the Yukon Territory and elsewhere. 

Additionally, Victor is an accomplished vintage race car driver, racing his 1964 Lotus Elan at many prestigious race tracks, including the Rolex Monterey Historic Car Races and the Velocity Speed Festival. He has participated in the Baja 1000 off-road motorsport race and one more thrilling hobby; he has his pilot’s license. This man has the stamina of a man 25 years younger! 
Margarita and Salvador Avila instilled in all six of their offspring a sense of community and giving back from their earliest days in Huntington Park. Victor served on Mission Hospital’s Foundation Board, creating the ‘Latino Leadership Committee.’ They reached out to local Latino/Latina business owners to raise funds for the hospital, establishing the El Camino Medical Center, and setting up Diabetes vans to go to underprivileged communities. Funds that were raised at a Gala were also put towards the expansion of the Emergency Room.

Victor has an open, giving heart, joy for life, intense love for his family, his work, his community and all his outdoor pursuits—this writer thinks it keeps him young at heart. Although Victor maintains a humble, down to earth attitude another feather in his cap Avila’s Restaurant on Del Mar was awarded Business of the Year 2023 by the Chamber of Commerce in early 2024. He is grateful for the family of employees and all the patrons who have supported his restaurant here in town the last 20 plus years. Kudos Victor, you are the epitome of the saying, “work hard play hard.”