El Pinto Foods LLC

Jack and Consuelo Thomas opened El Pinto Restaurant in 1962 to serve the recipes of Connie's mother, Josefina Chavez-Griggs. The restaurant was named El Pinto, meaning "the spot." Their twin sons, Jim and John, continued the family tradition by developing the restaurant into the beautiful venue guests visit today. El Pinto restaurant was voted Best New Mexican Restaurant in Albuquerque, NM, according to the "Best of City" annual survey. El Pinto is recognized as one of the 30 largest restaurants in the world. El Pinto has a seating capacity of over 1,200 seats. The salsas and sauces served in the restaurant were so popular that customers asked to take some home. Jim and John worked day and night to perfect the process of bottling the restaurant products, beginning with only a 35-gallon kettle in the kitchen. Today, they make 20 million jars of salsa a year in their 35,000-square-foot manufacturing and storage facility.