TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Brazilian music is playing in the background as dozens of customers enjoy a picanha dinner or Brazilian steak.
This is a typical Friday night at La Tiendita.
For owners Sid and Nora Getz, it's a way to tell their story through food.
"This place is unique because people can get a Spanish-speaking culture and a Portuguese-speaking culture," Sid Getz said.
Nora was born in Mexico and Sid Brazil.
The two took ownership of La Tiendita in 2017, but this building's story dates back to 2007.
"It was originally a Mexican market which was La Tiendita, which means little store," Sid Getz said.
Sid said this was the first place in Tallahassee to sell authentic Mexican cuisine.
"The previous owners were from Mexico City, which is where I'm from," Nora Getz said. "When we ate here, I told my husband that the owner or cook must be from there, and he was like how do you know? And I said this is exactly how we ate it there."
It became a restaurant in 2013, the same year Nora and Sid moved to Tallahassee and Nora started working here.
"She pretty much was a server, cook, manager," Sid Getz said.
They remodeled and gave the store a make-over in 2020, adding a Brazilian cafe.
Even with a facelift, Nora and Sid wanted to keep the same traditions alive, giving Tallahassee a taste of Mexican and Brazilian culture.
"Seeing the customers enjoying that and feeling like they were transported like they just got on a plane," Sid Getz said.
"Maybe they didn't even have the experience yet, but when they are sitting here they're getting the feeling like oh this is what it is," Nora Getz said.
And that makes this restaurant, a multicultural experience, that is Totally Tallahassee.
