Working shoulder to shoulder is how the Flores-Lopez parents nurture the next generation
Eneydi Lopez is familiar with long work days. Between years of working the tamale grind and building her restaurant and other businesses, there’s been little time for rest.
Eneydi entered the food scene out of necessity nearly 20 years ago. A Mexican immigrant, she started selling tamales to help support her family. Eneydi and her husband, Luis Flores, made weekly tamale deliveries and fed friends and neighbors on a long table in their living room. Eneydi sold tamales at local farmers markets with her two young children in tow.
For years, preparing for the market meant Eneydi’s Friday evenings were reserved for tamale-making. On those nights she would steal a one- to two-hour nap before rising early Saturday mornings to finish preparing the tamales so she and her children could start selling by 8 a.m.
The Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market is where Eneydi says her business really took off. Over the years, her customers there have encouraged her to get more rest. Her standard response?
“I always prefer to make it fresh.”
In recent years, Eneydi confided in her family that she was being spread too thin and couldn’t continue selling tamales. Her then-teenage children, Karen and Christopher, told her that would not be an option.
“They told me, ‘You make it, you drop us, and we’ll sell it,’” Eneydi recalls. Her eyes water at the memory.
Karen didn’t hesitate to step up and take on responsibility. “We learned everything from my mom,” she says. “And we knew how to do it because we were raised at the market.”
Nowadays, Karen, a junior at Rhodes College, leads the family’s efforts at the market. Each week she prepares and sells tamales, enchiladas, churros, and aguas frescas with the help of whichever family members are around.
Luis usually transports Karen and goods to the market and sticks around to help. Christopher, a sophomore at Middle Tennessee State University, lends a hand whenever he is home. Thirteen-year-old Justin helps wherever he is needed. And last but not least, two-year-old Mia is always available to lay on the charm.
Eneydi’s newest venture is Restaurante Cafe El Sol, housed in the Plaza Hispana shopping center that she and Lui opened in 2023 on Winchester Road. The restaurant serves traditional Mexican handheld items like tacos, quesadillas, pambazos (chorizo-and-potato sandwiches), sopes, and gorditas. They also have rotating specials like costillas (ribs) in salsa verde or steak with nopales (cactus) in chili red sauce. These dishes come as a complete meal, rounded off nicely with flavorful rice and beans. And don’t forget the handmade tortillas or your favorite agua fresca (lemonade, strawberry, hibiscus, or mango juice, made to order). Everything is fresh and truly authentic.
Eneydi and Luis value working as a family, “shoulder to shoulder.” Luis still has his day job in fencing, yet he finds time each evening to chip in at the restaurant. Eneydi keeps her little helper, Mia, with her all day at Plaza Hispana. “I raise my kids around me,” Eneydi said.
Just as everyone is involved in the work, you can bet everyone is involved in the meal. Luis referenced a saying: “If one can eat, one hundred can eat.”
“It’s to say that we can always share,” he explains. For the Flores-Lopez family, sharing their traditional foods has always been a natural part of life.
And Eneydi emphasizes that everything the family has built, they have built together. Eneydi and Luis believe they’re passing on more than recipes to their children—they’re also passing on hard-earned knowledge and an appreciation of hard work.
Luis has always found joy in teaching his children what he knows. “If one thing doesn’t bloom, you start with a different thing,” he says.
That’s how the Flores-Lopez family has raised their family and how they have served their tamales.
In their current season of life, Eneydi and Luis are focusing on seeing their restaurant and shopping center grow and bloom as they work to make Restaurante Cafe El Sol a gathering place for the community.
Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market
1000 South Cooper Street
Restaurante Café El Sol
6656 Winchester Road
Allie Arnell is a freelance food writer and snack chef to three. She enjoys creativity, connection, and exercise. When she’s not chasing PRs or toddlers, you can bet she’s making a mess in her Collierville kitchen. @allie.arnell
Chip Chockley, an attorney by day, has been a professional photographer since 2008. Things that make him happy include tacos, mai tais, and his wife and kids. @chipchockley