His Key to Success: the Real Enchilada : Food: Jose Luis Rodriguez disdains Americanized Mexican fare served by fast-food chains. He’s on the move by 5 a.m. daily so all his Super Antojitos outlets can offer choices such as ox-tongue tacos.

When he opened his first Super Antojitos restaurant in 1985, Jose Luis Rodriguez wanted to serve authentic Mexican cuisine, he said, not the Americanized versions served up by the major Mexican fast-food chains. To Rodriguez, real Mexican food meant such things as a lengua taco, a tortilla filled with stewed ox tongue.

By catering to the county’s growing Latino community, Rodriguez is striving to carve out a special place in the Mexican fast-food business.

Some customers say Super Antojitos--a small chain of five fast-food outlets in Santa Ana--offers a wider variety of Mexican food than they can find in any other such restaurant.

Jim Mallory, an engineer for Eastman Kodak, said he likes the cozy atmosphere and personal attention. “I can get them to add green pepper or pork at no extra cost. The other restaurants just don’t do that,” he said.

Nacho Marquez, a warehouse supervisor at Ingram Micro Inc. in Santa Ana, said Super Antojitos “makes many authentic Mexican dishes, like carnitas (pork dishes), beef and seafood, and they all taste like homemade food.”

Super Antojitos, which is Spanish for super appetizers, does not advertise much. Rodriguez said his clientele has grown largely by word of mouth. His five restaurants employ more than 50 people.

As Super Antojitos’ business has grown, so has its menu. It caters to Mexican tastes but also offers staples, such as enchiladas, that are better known to customers who are less familiar with authentic Mexican food. Customers can choose from among 10 kinds of tacos, 11 types of burritos and other Mexican seafood and meat dishes.

Rodriguez’s company competes with scores of mom-and-pop Mexican restaurants in Santa Ana and elsewhere in the county and at least two other small fast-food chains: Taquerias Serrano, operator of four restaurants in Santa Ana, and Taqueria Guadalajara, which operates four restaurants in Santa and Anaheim.

Miguel A. Serrano, owner of Taquerias Serrano, said Super Antojitos is unique because of the large number of items on its menu.

“I have less food in my menu because my people can serve them faster and they’re easier to prepare,” said Serrano, who started his first restaurant in 1980.

Serrano, though, said he recognizes the need for a broader menu and plans to add more items. Serrano, who also owns a classic-car business, plans to open his fifth restaurant in Santa Ana in March.

Rodriguez said offering a wide variety of dishes is not easy. He gets up at 5 a.m. each morning to make sure that each restaurant has enough supplies. Although Rodriguez could leave some of those chores to staff members, he said he prefers to keep a close eye on things himself.

“I check on all the restaurants personally, from preparing the food to making sure that all employees show up and that no one is late,” Rodriguez said. This means several visits to each restaurant daily.

It’s exhausting, he admitted, and leaves him little time to spend with his family.

He does his own marketing too, he said, by trying to know as many of his customers as he can. He said he has persuaded some non-Latinos to try Mexican dishes that they would not have without his encouragement.

“I know some of my American customers have tried my lengua tacos and liked it, and they bring friends to try it,” Rodriguez said.

In the spring, Super Antojitos will venture out of familiar territory and open a sixth restaurant in Fountain Valley, near a Price Club store and a Carl’s Jr. outlet off Slater Avenue.

If his new outlet thrives, Rodriguez hopes to open more elsewhere in the county.

Location, he said, is the key to fast-food success.

“I’ll go where my people shop and work. I don’t believe (that) just because I have five restaurants in Santa Ana, I can stay home and do nothing,” he said as he walked the narrow aisles of Super Antojitos No. 2 on South Bristol Street.

Rodriguez--called affectionately by some customers “El Cacheton,” or big cheeks --said he works hard to make up for his lack of education. He dropped out of the second grade and worked as a strawberry picker in Mexico before he came to the United States in 1970.

“I know how to run my business,” he said, “and that’s what counts.”