In
1941, at a small Redondo Beach cafe, Leo Presiado was introduced to
a lovely young widow named Josephine. Little did he know they would
soon marry and Josephine would encourage him to open a small Mexican
restaurant known as Leo's Mexican Food. The original Leo's was built
entirely by Leo himself and was located in Lawndale at 167th and Inglewood
Avenue, only seven blocks from the present location. In May 1948, the
building was completed and Leo was anxious to share his wife's cooking.
Leo's restaurant experience and Josephine's authentic family recipes
were a successful combination. Together, the couple established a thriving
business serving the local community. In 1957, tragedy struck the Presiado
family as Leo passed away. Josephine was left to raise two young children,
Lionel and Ruben, in addition to maintaining the family business. With
the help of her two older children, Maria and Ricardo, she was able
to manage.
In
late 1967, Leo's oldest son Lionel, and his compadre, Chito, took over
the restaurant and gave Josephine a chance to retire. Making virtually
no changes to the way in which the food was prepared, the restaurant
continued to grow and serve Josephine's recipes to perfection. In 1976,
Lionel moved the restaurant to it's present location to accommodate
growing business. Just as his father had done before him, Lionel built
the existing restaurant himself. Today Leo's can boast that it is the
oldest family operated restaurant in the South Bay area. Leo's Mexican
Food would like to thank its customers for four generations of continued
support!
