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Do you think you got a take to be a TV personality and commercials and, you know, Saturday morning shows? Listen to Dos Amigos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilberger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. Listen to My Legacy on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy.
Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I spoke with more actors, musicians, policymakers, and so many other fascinating people like writer and actor Dan Aykroyd. I love writing more than anything.
You're left alone, you know, you do three hours in the morning, you write three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school and write at night, and after nine hours, you come out with seven pages, and then you're moving on. Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Calling all Yellowstone fans.
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Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Our American Stories. If you've ever been around Washington, DC, you can find food trucks and stands on almost every imaginable corner, filling almost everything. Osiris Hoyle was one of the many in Arlington, Virginia to run such a stand, but one of few to turn it into a successful restaurant, Jane, called District Taco. Monty Montgomery brings us the story. Here's Osiris.
My name is Osiris Hoyle. I'm from Yucatan, Mexico, and I learned how to cook with my mom. Every single day, she will wake me up and ask me what I wanted to eat, but of course, I had to help her. My mom, she's extremely picky, but that's why her food is so delicious. She used to send me to the yard, right, and I'll pick tomatoes, habaneros, anything that she needed for her meal, and I'll come with tomatoes, and she'll fill them, and she's like, nope, this is not right. And I'm like, what do you mean it's not? It looks good, and she'll fill it, and she's like, feel it, you know, and so soft, and for me, it looked fine, you know, the same thing with limes.
She would just see it and feel it, and she's like, nope, it's not good, you have to go get more. The standards were so high, and since then, my standards are high. In Mexico, you cannot choose what kind of life you want to live, you know what I mean? I remember that I didn't know I was poor until I met, you know, rich kids. When I went to my friends, probably when I was maybe 14, 13 years old, I realized that they had the toys and games, or they have better bathrooms than we did, and then I was like, man, I think, you know, we struggle.
So when I came to United States, you know, I came with a tourist visa, and I decided to stay when I was 2000. I was working as a dishwasher, you know, I was making minimum wage at that point, and I met my wife at work, and she was the waitress, and I needed to learn English so I can ask her out, right? So I decided to learn this system, and I used to work at this restaurant bar in Denver, Colorado, and even though I was underage, they let me stay at the bar, right, because I was helping them with the cake, you know, and bringing it in, and I wasn't drinking, but I stayed at the bar talking to drunk people. They were my best teachers. I remember, you know, I was asking questions like, how do you say this, and then I'll write it down, and for some reason they, I think they felt important, you know what I mean?
I don't know, if you're drinking every day at the bar, something's going on, right? So they felt important, I think they liked the way that I was asking them questions, and they were my best teachers, you know? I mean, the first week I thought, oh, they're gonna hate it, and no, I was very welcome, and I did it for several years, but it got to the point where at my birthday, Jennifer said, hey, what are you doing today?
You want to go for lunch? And I was like, yeah, I canceled everything, and, you know, so I went for it. I was asking her out during that time for two years, three years, I think, and she never accepted it for some reason, probably because my English wasn't that good, but I was trying, right? And since then, we got married, and now we have three kids, and it was great. In 2006, we moved to DC, you know, because things were going well, and I was excited to try something new, and I found this construction job that I was paying a lot more than if I was just a cook, so that was great. You know, I took the job even though I didn't have that much experience, but the construction company saw my potential. They saw that I could do more than just be a service guy, so they sent me to school so I can learn how to read blueprints, and for me, I started seeing the potential to be something else than just a cook, you know, in the kitchen, something professional where I can be the superintendent of the company, and I can run projects, and I felt good.
Everything was going well, you know. I did projects where I actually was finishing before schedule, under budget, working my butt off, and I felt like, oh yeah, bonuses were coming. This is great, so we bought our house in 2007, and then, you know, we had a baby. Everything was going so well, but in 2008, I got laid off when the economy was really, really bad. I still remember that moment because it was on a Friday afternoon. I was sweeping the project because everybody just was leaving, and I like to keep my projects clean for the weekend, and the actual owner of the company came and he gave me the news. It was very emotional. I started crying. I've never been fired before, and, you know, I asked for my job back. My health insurance was through the company, and I just felt defeated. I felt not being a man anymore, the man that my parents raised, the kid, you know, all the responsibilities, all my hard work.
What just happened? I didn't understand it, so I said, look, just pay me whatever you want to pay me, okay? Just keep me on the payroll, but keep my insurance, right?
My wife, she's pregnant. We'll figure it out later, and they just couldn't keep me on on their payroll. I took my truck, drove away, and I had to park in a parking lot. I was actually crying in that moment because how am I going to go to my wife right now and tell her that I just lost my job?
How am I going to do that? I've never been prepared for these moments, right? I have a house, a kid, she's pregnant, and what am I going to say? So I went to her job. I said, Jenny, I need to talk to you, and I had to say I got laid off. I got fired, and the only thing that she came out of her mouth, she hugged me, and she said, don't worry, we'll be okay. Man, that was so powerful, you know?
That was so powerful. For six months, seven months maybe, I was unemployed. I was looking for a construction job because I knew I know how to read blueprints now, but there was nothing available. I was getting depressed, all right?
I was getting extremely depressed because I don't have a job. I'm babysitting my son, but in the weekends, I will invite my friends so we can have some beers and make carnas and salsas, but my friends used to say, oh, Cyrus, this is so good. You should bottle this and sell it, and oh my goodness, and I'm like, I'll go home and I'll tell my wife. I think people like my food.
We might have something going on here. Then I was making it for Mark Wallace, too. A man who would go on to have a profound impact on Osiris's life. When we move in, I remember that day when he was trying to put his play set for his kids, and I offered my help, and we became very good friends, and he loved my food. He always said, Osiris, you should open your restaurant. There was one day I was drinking beer and eating ceviche with Mark, and he said, hey Osiris, do you know, all the time when I go to house in Texas, there's always food trucks, right, and they sell these amazing Mexican food, breakfast tacos, and all that, and it's so delicious. He turns around and it's like, Osiris, do you want to do it? I'm like, well, yeah, if you know, I mean, the food truck is a lot of money, but you know, but the taco stand is only $25,000, and it's like, well, if you want to do it, I'll give you the money, and I'm like, wait, you want to give me the money?
You know, it's like, what person give you, you know, that much money? First of all, I didn't finish my high school, okay. I went home and I couldn't believe it, right.
I talked to my wife about it, and at that point, I didn't have anything else going on, so I went back to Mark and I said, let's do it, let's do it. And let's do it indeed, and what a story this is so far. When we come back, more from Osiris Hoyle and District Taco and how that all happened here on Our American Story.
But a lot of that was just because I wasn't good at anything else, you know. Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andre Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilberger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Each week, we'll sit down with inspiring figures like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter, and their plus one, their ride or die, as they share stories never heard before about their remarkable journey.
Listen to My Legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy. Everyone's forgotten who runs this valley.
Time to remind them. Yellowstone fans, step into the Yellowstone universe. Our family legacy is this ranch. And I protect it with my life. Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone Podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Action! Explore untold behind the scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews, and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone.
You know, the first studs to settle this valley fighting was all they knew. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch, welcome to the Yellowstone, Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it.
Listen to the official Yellowstone Podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to work. And we return with our American stories and the story of Osiris Boyle, who had just been given a generous gift from his friend Mark Wallace to start his own taco stand.
And at the lowest point of his life, here's Osiris. We bought the taco stand, you know, we named it District Taco and it was born in 2009. And I went straight to Roslyn.
Roslyn, Virginia, that was the first place we went. And I, I didn't do any research. The only thing I knew, there were big buildings.
That's all what I knew. I'm like, oh, there's big buildings. There's a lot of people here and we're going to be here. But there was Chipotle right next door to me. Okay.
And it was Baja Fresh. All right. So I was in the middle, man. I was like, ah, what I'm doing here?
I'm dead. But you know, like I said before, I'm a great sales guy and I think I can sell tacos and I make pretty good tacos. It started to two people inside the cart and I was the cashier.
I had one full runner, one guy that was helping us, you know, and someone else that was just making sure nothing is missing. The first week we started making breakfast tacos, you know, in the morning. They're in the morning, 6 a.m. Right.
And, and it wasn't working. You know, people around D.C. don't know about breakfast tacos. But in Mexico, we always eat tacos with eggs, you know, so, so be it, you know, and I grew up with it. And, but people around here prefer, you know, a bagel or a donut or, you know, or I don't know, or something else.
Right. For breakfast, not a breakfast tacos. So I said, OK, well, breakfast is not helping me all the way.
You know, let me, let me start introducing what I'm really good at. For lunch, people don't want to eat breakfast tacos, so I'm going to start making pollo asado. The other day I was making mole poblano. Every single day I was changing the menu. Just like how my mom would ask me, what do you want to eat today?
I would change it. Right. And I figured out also, OK, I want to, I want to make my carne asado. So I pretty much welded a grill that I bought at Home Depot, you know, just like a small grill. So I was grilling, you know, in in front of people. When people walking into their jobs, to their office, man, we're grilling out there.
Right. We're grilling our salsas. We had a table. We were blending the salsas. You know, we're roasting our tomatoes and everything. It was a party.
Oh, my goodness. Not everything, you know, worked perfectly for two months. I wasn't making any money because I pretty much was making everything fresh. So I was making my guacamole fresh. I was making my pico de gallo fresh. So I was going to restaurant depot every single day and I'll get back, watch the taco stand and drop everything. And then eat dinner with my family and then cook whatever it takes a long time.
And my refrigerator full of avocados and my wife didn't like that very much, but she knew that that was the only option we had. Here's another thing I used to drink so I can go sleep. So I'll have like a couple beers. Right. One beer. And one night I was cooking the beans and I turned the TV on. Right. It was like I fall asleep.
Family was sleeping. So around 11 o'clock, I don't know about you, but when you burn beans, I don't know if you've done this before, but it smells so bad, right? Just the smell is really bad. And I woke up and I'm like, oh, my goodness, what I've done with a waste of product, you know, it's money. And I couldn't just burn the house, my family, you know what I'm doing. And I was pretty angry. But at that moment, you know, I was extremely tired, extremely disappointed. Right. And I was just praying because I was like, what I'm doing, I'm just wasting my time here.
Okay. I almost burned the house. I'm extremely tired.
I'm overweight because, you know, it's just I've been eating a lot and exercising, working long, long, long hours. And this is, I don't know, this is not working. So I was praying and I said, God, you sent me a message because I don't know what else to do.
And then my daughter started crying. And I remember I was like, I guess that's the message I have to continue, you know, for the family. Right.
So I tie my shoes and get back to work. Location, location, location. It's something realtors say matters in the value of a house or a property.
But it also turns out it matters if you own, say, a food truck or a taco stand, a movable location. And it became the key to Osiris's success. So we used to set up so early. And when we used to set up a food truck, we used to set up a food truck until early. And what we used to set up is the ABC Channel 7.
We used to get there like 550. And the weatherman will get out. Right.
Start telling you about the weather. And then we're cooking bacon. Right. Oh, man, we're cooking bacon. And I don't know about you, but when you're cooking bacon, oh, it smells so good.
Right. So he's he always talk about us six a.m. like he'll turn the cameras, you know, and we're like cooking bacon. We're like saying hi, you know, and that was oh, man, that was great. Great times.
Things were going so good. There were long lines to order from us. We were like six people in the tacos and working. And we probably served about 200 people. And the actual press start writing about us and from being laid off to have a taco stand.
I think that was a wake up call that actually it can be done. And then I came to my business partner, Mark Wallace, and I say, Mark, I think we've got something going on right here. Let's just open a restaurant. We opened the restaurant in 2010 in Arlington, Virginia.
And from there, you know, we we bought a lot of equipment from Craigslist. So we pretty much built the restaurants by ourselves. But we didn't know what we were doing. I remember reviews online that said, don't think because you came from a taco stand, you're going to be able to control a restaurant. But those reviews, I remember I was like, OK, just wait.
I'm going to show you. And then after a year, we felt like, OK, we have a model. And then we hired for second store in D.C. We hired contractors, OK, to build that store. But then I was like, well, you know, maybe maybe I should call the guys that, you know, lay me off and see if they want to work with me. So I went and I hired them back. It's funny because I used to be their employee and now I'm their client. That's the way how things work out. Right.
And from there, you know, now we have 12 stores open and over just a little bit over 450 employees. And we're going from there. You know, I think all my life is always being about what other people had than we didn't have.
And I think I'm really thankful that I didn't have it all in the beginning. And a great job is always to Monty Montgomery. And my goodness, what a story. And it's every immigrant stories in some ways the same.
Right. From different places. This story started in Yucatan, Mexico, but learned about standards from his mom. He'd come in with a tomato from the garden and she just shake her head. And I know that feeling because my father, my grandfather was a great cook and I'd go out to the garden and bring in a tomato and he'd shake his head.
And to this day, I do it now to my daughter. Those standards get passed along folks. And by the way, he said in Mexico, you can't choose the life you want to lead. And so we came to the United States versus a dishwasher earning minimum wage and built a family, learned a new trade, started that food truck thanks to the generosity of a friend. And look where we are in this story. And it's a story that happens time and again in this great country. Osiris Hoyle's story, District Taco's story. Have one of your NDC here on Our American Story.
