PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, AUGUST 21, 2020
KeizerCommunity
BBQ with a Cali fl air comes to Keizer
KEIZERTIMES.COM
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
For the last fi ve years, Or-
lando Cepeda, along with his
wife, Kelly, have run a cater-
ing service that specializes in
Santa Maria-style BBQ.
Now, Cepeda is bringing
his specialty BBQ to Keizer in
the form of a new restaurant.
El Vaquero Santa Maria BBQ,
which is located at 4907 River
Road N, will be having their
grand opening on Sept. 8
“We are beyond excited
to bring our unique fl avor
to Keizer,” Cepeda said. “We
want to show folks what San-
ta Maria BBQ is all about.”
Cepeda admitted that the
COVID-19 pandemic has
been rough on the catering
business, but he believes that
this new restaurant will be a
great addition to his company.
“I ran a restaurant back in
California and I swore I would
never do it again. But this was
too good of an opportunity to
pass up,” Cepeda said.
The inside of the restau-
rant will feature artwork from
the Santa Maria Valley. While
Cepeda plans to have El Va-
quero be a sit-down establish-
ment, he also seeks to provide
a laid-back experience for his
patrons.
“It’s not going to be a walk
and cheese with pulled
pork and tri-tip salad.
Cepeda was born in Portland
but moved to the Santa Maria
Valley when he was a young-
ster.
He got into being a BBQ
pit master at an early age
and many of his recipes were
passed down from members
of his family.
“I have been doing this
for 35 years and I have been
eating this food for my entire
life,” Cepeda said.
But for Cepeda, it’s not
just about the high-quality
food. It’s about building a re-
lationship with his clients and
giving them a fantastic dining
experience.
“We obviously want the
food to be wonderful, but for
us, it’s also all about making
sure our customers have a
wonderful experience,” Kelly
said.
“We want it to be like hav-
ing Sunday dinner with the
family,” Cepeda added.
The restaurant will be
open from 11-8 p.m. and
will be closed on Mondays.
Due to COVID-19 restric-
tions, El Vaquero will only
be allowing 25 people in the
restaurant at a time. However
they will be providing to-go
service and plan to eventually
start offering call-in delivery
service.
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
Orlando and Kelly Cepeda are planning to open El Vaquero on River Road Sept. 8. The restau-
rant is an extension of the catering business they’ve owned for years.
up and order kind of a place.
We want our food to be ex-
tremely fresh and not served
in a to-go box,” Cepeda said.
“But we’re going to make it
less expensive too. We don’t
want our meals to be over-
priced.”
Unlike the majority of
BBQ joints, El Vaquero does
not use BBQ sauce for their
dishes. They instead rely on
the natural fl avor that comes
with cooking their meat
with red oak wood. Santa
Maria-style barbecue cen-
ters around beef tri-tip, sea-
soned with black pepper,
salt and garlic before grilling
over coals of red oak wood.
Cepeda also plans to serve
items such as smoked chile
verde, chicken, brisket, fi sh ta-
cos and sweet bread, which is
a cowboy delicacy according
to Cepeda.
“There is a lot of dif-
ferent kinds of Latin in-
fusion with Santa Ma-
ria BBQ,” Cepeda said.
The menu will also fea-
ture side dishes such as mac
crossword
In the
Navy
McNary High School alum
Jake Wyer (2017 graduate)
headed to the boot camp for
the U.S. Navy in early Au-
gust. Jake and went to South-
western Oregon Commu-
nity College (SWOCC) on
a swimming scholarship and
graduated with his associate’s
degree last year.
He will be an electronics
technician for the next six
years.
Jake was seen off to duty by
sister Chelsea, brother-in-law
Byron, brother Brock and sis-
ter-in-law Ivy (Brock is in the
Navy as well).
Watercolor
submissions
wanted for
art show
Keizer Art Association is
seeking entries for its virtual
September show, Watercolor.
Intake for the show runs
through Aug. 26. The Water-
color show will be available
via the associations website,
keizerarts.com. The Keizer
Cultural Center, home of the
art association and its Enid Joy
Mount Gallery is still closed to
the public due to COVID-19.
The show will be on the asso-
ciation’s web site from Aug. 27
to Sept. 29.
This show has two cate-
gories: two dimensional and
youth art (ages 4-14).
Artists can visit keizerarts.
com to download an entry
form. Entires are limited to
four pieces of work per art-
ist, Each entry form must be
signed and can be emailed to
Bob Curtis at bcurtis97304@
gmail.com.There are no entry
fees for the Watercolor show.
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