Yesenia Leon grew up in her parents’ Mexican restaurants in Anderson and Greenville. Raised in a family where helping out wasn’t optional, she began serving tables and learning the ins and outs of restaurants at the age of 15.
“In our culture, you help your family,” she said recently. She tried soccer and extracurriculars for a while in high school, but the rhythm of restaurant life stuck most, and those early years built the work ethic and acumen she stands on today. Every year, her family traveled to Mexico, and those trips shaped her sense of food, culture and community.
Leon’s family comes from San José de la Paz in Jalisco, Mexico, a small town where many families eventually moved to the United States and opened restaurants. Her relatives also introduced her to husband Antonio Ayala, whose father Jesus Ayala opened the original La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant in Greenwood.
When Leon moved to Charleston in 2000, she and Antonio took their food and beverage knowledge and began building. Together, they grew the La Hacienda brand across the state. Leon watched her husband hustle, solve problems and move through the industry with a determination that changed how she saw herself.
Leaving a mark on the Lowcountry
“He taught me how to get things done,” Leon remembers of her late husband, who died in February 2024. That’s when she made a big decision: “We built something and I’m going to continue it.”
That mindset carried her through every restaurant opening before and after her husband’s passing. They opened Viva Tacos and Tequila on Daniel Island in 2020, and it was the first time she moved away from the usual Tex-Mex playbook. Instead of sticking to what people expected, she brought in dishes and flavors she grew up with in Mexico. Birria became an instant bestseller — even after Antonio told her people here might not take to it.
Blue Tequila Tacos and Grill in Goose Creek came next in 2021 and then Añejo Tacos and Tequila in Moncks Corner in 2023, which opened only two months before Antonio passed.
Catrina’s Tacos & Tequila on Clements Ferry, which offers arepas, Colombian food and a full tequila-focused bar built around agave, opened in 2024. Leon’s newest concept, Cielo Mexican Kitchen in Nexton, is set to open before 2025 comes to an end.
Leon’s menus balance traditional dishes like pozole and mole with new-wave items like birria ramen and sushi tacos, ever aware of heritage and innovation. Each restaurant has its own identity, yet they all stay connected through intention, hospitality, and flavor.
In a different but sweeter direction, the inspiration behind Dulce Churros, Ice Cream and Cocktails in Mount Pleasant came from the cafés that Leon loved in Mexico, places that felt like little pastry shops with tea parties, sweets and small bites.
“I told my husband I wanted this and he said do it,” she said. Dulce became the most difficult project she ever took on, but seeing people of all ages come for churros, ice cream and crêpes made it worth every effort, she said.
Hospitality and legacy
Leon’s approach to hospitality blends the way she grew up in Mexican culture with the way people show care in the South.
“Southern people love hospitality and Mexico loves hospitality,” she said.
She sees a connection as both cultures value warmth, generosity, family, faith and hard work. Charleston diners respond to flavor and sincere service, and she sees that appreciation when regulars walk through the door and sit down at the same tables they’ve been visiting for years.
After Leon’s husband passed, her teams rallied around her, having become an extended family over the years.
“They supported me, looked out for me and uplifted me,” she said. In turn, she invests in them, trains them and works to make their jobs easier, knowing none of this works without a strong group of people who care.
Helping others
Leon’s investment in others stretches far beyond the restaurants. She said she wants to help Latinx women, women of color and anyone who needs guidance building something of their own. In Mexico, she’s already helping women launch a candle business and a young man open his own car wash.
“With a little guidance we could help a lot of people,” she said. That support and mentorship is part of what she hopes her story brings to Charleston’s community.
Leon’s daughters grew up in the restaurants the way she did. Though her oldest daughter wants to be a nurse, her youngest is already preparing to take over her own restaurants one day, focusing on commercial real estate and finance in school. Both know how the restaurants run because they have been part of this world since they were 15, just like their mother and father. Seeing them carry pieces of their story forward is something that Leon doesn’t take lightly.
For Leon, legacy is not only about the restaurants she has opened or the dishes she has introduced to the Lowcountry. It is the pride she feels when she sees other Latinx families open their own successful businesses and the belief that hard work, care and community can build something lasting.
“I come from and I am surrounded by hardworking people that just want the best for ourselves, our families and our community. I feel good building things and helping people — and if everyone around could do a little more of that in this world, it would be a better place — and I love being able to do that as a part of the Charleston community.”
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