Atlanta favorite and family-owned and -operated business El Azteca (@elaztecaatlanta) is officially passing the torch to the next generation.
“Meet me at 6115 Peachtree Dunwoody Road at 2 o’clock” was the simple text Victor Macias received from his father, Javier, in January 2021. “When my father has an idea, you just go with it,” says Macias jovially. He obliged his father and showed up to the former Uncle Julio’s location on the crisp winter’s day. Just hours later, Macias became the owner of a new restaurant, and his father passed on the torch of the Macias Group family business.
It wasn’t always the plan for Macias to take on the family business. “Growing up, I always thought it would be my sister who took over,” he says. Macias might have spent his childhood running through El Azteca’s kitchens and hearing restaurant lingo all day, but it was his sister who was always hands on. “She went to college for hospitality management and worked with my dad throughout school,” explains Macias, who always wanted to go into marketing after college.
Things changed when Macias’ sister got married and became a stay-at-home mom, leading him to start helping with the marketing side of Javier’s business. “I was a recent grad interviewing for corporate positions, so I worked for my dad in my free time,” he shares. What was meant to be temporary became permanent, and Macias soon found himself as the Macias Group’s director of operations at his father’s request. Now, he’s on the cusp of opening the first El Azteca under his own name. “The legacy of this business means everything to me,” shares Macias. While he and his father bump heads at times, Macias truly loves both the industry and, most of all, the soul of his family’s business. “El Azteca feels like home to our regulars, who feel like family to us,” he shares. “I can’t wait to add to the community we’ve built with my very own location. It’s incredibly special.” Indeed, it’s the restaurants like El Azteca that turn the big city of Atlanta into the small town we all love.
Photography by: Kim Evans
