Server with autism becomes part owner of San Antonio restaurant he’s worked at for 20 years

SAN ANTONIO — If you live on the northwest side, you’ve probably heard of Cha Cha’s, a popular tex-mex restaurant that’s been around since the mid 80’s. After closing three locations in 2017 due to her father Ricardo Ruiz’s passing. Current owner Bania Ruiz decided to open Cha Cha’s New Gen in 2021, a sole location that now houses healthy twists to the recipes she grew up eating.

Regulars have grown accustomed to seeing Bania and her husband wait tables while running back and forth between the kitchen and the main dining area, and those who grew up eating Cha Cha’s also recognized another face. 36-year-old Evan Padilla began working at one of the original Cha Cha’s locations at the age of 16. When he learned they were back open for business, he didn’t hesitate to resume his job as a server.

“I said, sure man, I would love to get back to work. I was feeling pumped right about there,” Padilla said.  

His younger brother Christian is never far behind and works as the restaurant’s dishwasher in the back of the house. Both men were diagnosed with autism at a young age. Their mother, who was a server at a different restaurant, cared for their needs before passing away in 2012. Evan keeps a photo of his mother tucked into the picture frame of the previous owner’s portrait. Ricardo Ruiz passed away two years after Padilla’s mother. His image is also displayed on a wall at the front of the restaurant for all to see. 

“Some day I want to be exactly like my mom,” Padilla said. 

Owner, Bania Ruiz, thinks it’s sweet that Padilla chooses to commemorate his mother along with her father. 

“I do believe they’re watching over us. I believe his mom is here and my father is as well,” she said. 

After working alongside both Evan and Christian for many years, she noted how she has paid close attention to their needs as well as their capabilities. She has entrusted Evan with tasks like answering phone calls, running the register, serving tables, and greeting guests as they walk in. She says the toll of the passing of their mother caused Christian, who was beginning to work in the front, to regress. She made the decision to transition him into his role in the kitchen in order to meet his needs. 

Ruiz has seen both men grow into their roles over the years but she’s seen Evan excel in everything he does, including remedial tasks the average person may not be thrilled to do. 

“We close from 2-5 and sometimes when he’s doing the double shifts, he’ll bring out his little cot and his pillow and he’ll stay here,” said the owner.

Padilla also takes home any dirty cloths or aprons and washes them, in order to save Ruiz money on laundry service. Because he does so much, Ruiz has decided to add another job to his resume.

“I don’t think anyone deserves it more than him. We’ve made him part owner of Cha Cha’s New Gen Cafe.”

That means long with his current paycheck, Padilla will get a cut of anything Cha Cha’s New Gen Cafe earns as a business.”

“I will like it here for the rest of my life as a good employer,” he said. “I just want to make sure to keep this thing alive, and this restaurant right here, I ain’t going nowhere.”

Cha Cha’s New Gen Cafe is open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from  5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.