El Rey Celebrates 45 Years of Cultivating Community

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For 45 years, El Rey, the family-owned Hispanic supermarket group, has fostered an appetite for Mexican foods in Milwaukee. Dedicated to building community as well as satisfying taste buds, a visit to any one of El Rey’s four locations is an experience. Each store features cheerful décor, colorful piñatas displayed from the ceiling, and a large produce department that invites exploration. The Taco Loco taquerias inside three of the locations offers breakfast options and lunch plates such as taco combinations, enchiladas, burritos, tamales, soups and sides.

El Rey, meaning “the king” in Spanish, was formed in 1978 by brothers Heriberto, Armando and Ernesto Villarreal as Super Mercado El Rey. The siblings sensed that their venture would be successful. “But we didn’t know we would grow this big,” reflects Ernesto, El Rey’s sole surviving founder.

Prior to opening El Rey, the siblings’ father, Octavio Villarreal, had owned a small neighborhood grocery store on Third and Lapham, which served Milwaukee’s Hispanic population. The market, which didn’t have an official name, was a gathering place for many Mexican immigrants in the community.

Ernesto explains El Rey’s beginnings. “Armando had worked at a tortilla factory, but later got laid off. We wanted to help my brother Armando sustain his family.” The brothers also noticed how there were few options for Mexican groceries at the time. They opened Super Mercado El Rey in a 3,000 square-foot space at 1023 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. to bring more products from Mexico to the people of Milwaukee. They made tortillas in a small kitchen at the back of the store.

Upon opening, El Rey was well received. “What attracted customers most at the beginning were our tortillas,” Ernesto says, and noted that they supply the majority of Milwaukee’s Mexican restaurants. “Customers also appreciated our service.” All three brothers, along with their spouses, worked at the store. “We worked our regular jobs, and then we came in the afternoons to work at the grocery store.”

By the early 80s, a growing interest in Mexican cuisine inspired the brothers to establish a wholesale division to produce and distribute their popular tortillas, chips and tamales to restaurants and other retail stores. Support from Milwaukee’s Hispanic community and beyond helped the business expand.

El Rey has always been a community gathering spot. “People come in and make friends,” Ernesto says. “We see customers come from Green Bay, Racine and Kenosha. They come on weekends but stay here for hours because they’re surrounded by friendly people. We have a restaurant, a juice bar, and services like check cashing, a Western Union location and a post office.” (A contracted United States Postal Service unit is located inside the store at 916 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr.).

A Pillar in the Hispanic Community

Each El Rey location features a panaderia, or bakery, with decorated cakes, budin (bread pudding), and classic conchas the Mexican sweet breads with colorful streusel that’s scored into various patterns.

The deli offers hot grab-and-go burritos, tamales, empanadillas, pollo el dorado(chicken fajita tacos with cactus and green sauce), and cold items like guacamole, Mexican street corn salad, and ensaladas (salads) such as prickly pear cactus. Ernesto says their carnitas (pulled pork) and scratch-made soups are popular. Different specialties are featured daily. Their homemade salsas, particularly pico de gallo, draw many non-Hispanic customers to the store, Ernesto observes. “Then they explore to see what’s new and different, and they buy other things while they’re here.”

Produce offerings include cactus leaves and many kinds of peppers. Mexican cheeses such as queso casero (fresh crumbling cheese) and quesillo Oaxaca(Oaxaca cheese) can be found in the dairy case. Shelf stable ingredients include sauces, spices, dry beans, rice and canned goods. Ernesto says the product selection has also grown to accommodate preferences of

immigrants from Central and South America, and the Caribbean. 

Ernesto works at EL Rey’s flagship location on Cesar E. Chavez Dr. on most weekdays. He enjoys engaging with customers. El Rey partners with the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, Inc./Mexican Fiesta, along with churches and organizations serving Milwaukee’s Hispanic community.

Second and third generations of the Villarreal family work for El Rey’s store or at the office. Ernesto anticipates they may open a fifth location at some point. “It’s rewarding when I see customers and they call me by name,” Ernesto says. “They knew me for so many years. Some came in as children with their parents, and now they are gown and come in with their kids.”

For more information about El Rey, visit elreyfoods.com.