Dad in tears after TikTok creator helps launch his family taco shop to fame in California

It was just another night of making tacos at his family business for father Teodoro Jimenez when someone stopped and changed the trajectory of his California shop overnight.

Jesus Morales’s TikTok is all about finding the good in the world and sharing it with people. The night he stopped by Jimenez’s taco stand Blue Fire Bliss near National City, he realized that they were good — really good. He knew what he had to do.

“I went back over to the owner and told him the taco was delicious,” Morales said in his video, which has been viewed more than 7 million times.

Then, he offered to pay for every taco Jimenez could sell within the next hour. At first the question stunned Jimenez, but the taco business quickly agreed to the deal.

The TikTok creator worked with the shop to draw people in, and soon enough dozens of customers were crowding the modest taco stand and giving it nine out of 10 and 10 out of 10 reviews.

Jimenez estimated that the business made about $600 in the hour, which Morales happily paid. On top of it, he gave Jimenez a $1,000 tip.

With the cup of cash in his hand, Jimenez became choked up behind the taco grill. “Gracias,” he told Morales. The two hugged tightly at the end of the video.

“(That’s) my uncle,” one person commented. “He deserves this and more, the best human being.”

Jimenez is from Nayarit, Mexico, and immigrated to San Diego, California, at age 17 after he saw his family eroding from poverty, according to the Blue Fire Bliss website.

“Here is where his interest in cooking sparked, driving him to seek kitchen jobs,” the website said. “He would be working day and night at two-different restaurants to provide for his family. His love for learning multi-ethnic food recipes and cooking food grew more and more as time went by, learning to cook Chinese, Italian, American, and Mediterranean food.”

His own shop, Blue Fire Bliss, is in the lot of a convenience store and launched in 2022, according to the website.

Since Morales’ video, Blue Fire Bliss has seen sales quadruple and the customers are endless, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

“It definitely lives up to the hype,” Chula Vista resident Eddie Mendoza, who saw Morales’ viral TikTok, told the outlet. “You get hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, quesadillas, carne asada fries — I mean, it’s like a regular taco shop. But it’s in the street, which is even more amazing.”

Morales didn’t stop with only his TikTok, though. He also set up a GoFundMe to help the family save toward a food truck, which has been Jimenez’s dream.

As of Feb. 8, the GoFundMe is nearing $30,000.

“Brought me to tears,” a cake company wrote on the TikTok. “As a small business owner I know what this meant for him… thank you.. sometimes you just need a break!”

“I can’t wait to use my pockets to bless other people,” another viewer said.

The stand is open every day from 5 to 11 p.m., according to its website.

National City is in the South Bay region of San Diego’s metropolitan area

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