Las Salsas Dona Mary in Moline was four years in the making

Garcia, with the help of her husband, Alejandro, and their son, Gerardo, has opened Las Salsas Dona Mary at 1534 6th Ave., around the corner from Moline City Hall. The process of opening the restaurant took more than four years, but the entrepreneurial dream was born decades ago.

Garcia's love of cooking began at age 10, when she would help her mother prepare meals for the family and was encouraged to dream about owning her own restaurant one day. 

"She put it in my mind," she said. "It all started with her."

Garcia immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in the mid 1980s, and to the Quad-Cities in the mid 2000s. Four years ago, the family decided to try its hands at a business. They picked out two storefronts in Moline that were former restaurants because they thought they would be in turn-key condition. The goal was to use one for the kitchen and the other for the dining room.

But the family quickly ran into trouble. The air conditioner went out, the plumbing was bad, electrical upgrades were needed; the list was long. The landlord told them that any upgrades needed would be their responsibility.

So, as the Garcia family does when things get tough, they got tougher. Maria and Alejandro Garcia took third-shift cleaning jobs to save enough money to fix the restaurant.

"Every penny that went into fixing this building was all us," their son said.

Maria Garcia would wake up at 3 a.m. to clean, then come home to take the kids to school. In May, she added more to her plate by setting up a booth at Mercado on Fifth. Every Thursday she prepared 150 homemade tortillas. Within hours, they were sold out.

Because their Moline storefront was not ready to use by summer, they rented a kitchen to sell food until getting the city's approval to open their new place on Dec. 6.

The doors officially opened the next week. Finally, Garcia's dream was coming true.

"When I saw the people the first week, I was so happy," she said.

For Gerardo Garcia, watching his mom's dream come true — and all the hard work she and his father put into it — is a big reward for him too.

"Mom never gives up, " he said. 

Las Salsas Dona Mary is open on from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. Mondays and from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Breakfast is served daily until noon. More information, including a look at the menu, can be found on the Las Salsas Dona Mary Facebook page.