[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5954]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           RAMON'S EL DORADO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN SHIMKUS

                              of illinois

                  in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 25, 2017

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of 
Ramon's El Dorado, an institution in my hometown of Collinsville, 
Illinois.
  In the 1960s Raymundo ``Ramon'' Otero was working in St. Louis at the 
Chevrolet assembly plant. An unfortunate accident occurred in which he 
fell through scaffolding, injuring his back. He was paralyzed from the 
waist down, and doctors told him he would never walk again.
  Six months later he found a doctor who would perform a surgery that 
would allow him to walk again. But payments from the plant had already 
stopped.
  With a young, hungry child, Mr. Otero's wife, Estella, sent him to 
borrow $5 from a neighbor and get food for the baby. But God 
interceded.
  On his way to the store, Mr. Otero felt a calling to buy meat 
instead, which he did. Once home, they made a tray of tacos, burritos, 
enchiladas, and tostadas. He took that tray to a local bar, sold the 
food, and made $18.60. Thus began a cycle of making food and selling 
it.
  He eventually worked with a local fried chicken restaurant to sell 
his Mexican food for ten cents of every dollar sold. Soon he bought out 
the owner, and Ramon's El Dorado was born in what was a former gas 
station.
  Mr. Otero used his mother's recipes, who owned a restaurant in 
Durango City, Mexico. He helped his hometown for many years by taking a 
truckload of food and clothing to Mexico.
  Ramon's has expanded several times over the years and now seats 280 
people.
  Mr. Otero died last year, but his sons Raymond and Carlos continue 
the family tradition today.
  I am humbled to be able to honor Ramon's on its 50th Anniversary of 
serving delicious Mexican food to the people of southwestern Illinois 
and beyond.
  Congratulations to the Otero family.

                          ____________________