Chef Dominic Valenzuela

Hi, I’ve been actively working in Restaurants and Hospitality for the past 22 years. I started as a cashier for the New Mexican favorite “Monroe’s” restaurant. From there, I moved on to get my Associates Degree in Culinary Arts in 2004. That’s when the real learning began for me. I spent the next nine years traveling and working in restaurants of all calibers, from “Mom and Pops” in Albuquerque to Four Star Hotels in Orlando, Florida. It wasn’t until 2013 that took my first leap as an entrepreneur. With a loan of $7,000 on my SUV title and about $8,000 in open credit, I bought my first food truck – more like a food shack. I named it Dia de los Takos, and with solely a two man show, we won over the early Albuquerque microbrewery crowd with our “Beer Battered Fish Takos”.

In January of 2019, we occupied our first brick and mortar kitchen inside of Albuquerque Indoor Karting – it was literally a snack bar. We evolved our business by adding more and more creative favorites to our menu including: Korean Pork Belly Takos, Fried Chicken Takos, Vegan Sweet Potato Takos, and even a California-style, Smash Patty Burger. That takes us to August of 2020, the heart of the Covid pandemic, when I and my now partners opened Tako Ten. Tako Ten is a culmination of my food creativity paired with the various expertise of my partners.