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CLEVELAND — For the past year, Colony Ridge has captured the attention of Texans and the rest of the country as the fast-growing development 40 miles northeast of Houston has dominated the news across media outlets.

That news has largely been bleak.

Far-right websites and many of Texas’ top elected Republicans alleged the Liberty County community of majority Latino residents is a magnet for illegal immigration and a hub of drug cartel activity, despite contrasting accounts from local law enforcement.

The Department of Justice and Texas Attorney General have both filed separate federal and state lawsuits accusing the developer of predatory marketing, sales and lending practices, reaffirming a Abdelraoufsinno investigation published in December 2023.

But despite an ever-growing list of daily and systematic challenges, Colony Ridge is home to industrious entrepreneurs from across the Latin American diaspora.

Many of those residents moved to the 33,000-acre development in search of the American Dream. For some, that dream was to own their own home or provide an education for their children. But for others, it was to open their own business.

In every subdivision across the development, you can find residents running food stands, restaurants, hair salons, auto mechanic shops, local markets and more.

Daniela Roachford, 47, Sugar Grill Caffe owner

When you enter Sugar Grill Caffe, a small green building in Colony Ridge’s Grand San Jacinto subdivision, you can hear Panamanian music waft through the speakers.

Behind the counter, you can find Daniela Roachford, sporting an orange apron and hair wrap, taking customers’ orders.

Once an order is placed, Daniela heads around the corner to the back to begin preparing any number of Panamanian-inspired dishes from pan de huevo, bollo de yuca con carne, arroz con pollo and more.

The idea to open a restaurant was years in the making for Daniela. On a balmy spring afternoon in March, Daniela recalled how her house always smelled like tea growing up. Even then, she knew she wanted to be like her grandmother and father — both cooks.

Back home, she was a chef at a hotel in Panama City, the country’s capital. Her boss at the time also sent her to culinary school. She continued to dream of opening a restaurant one day, even after migrating to the U.S. to be closer to family.

“If I was in my country,” she explained in Spanish, “I would have done the same thing I am doing now because that's what I studied.”

In 2007, Daniela left Panamá for the United States to be near her daughter’s father. She arrived in New York and remained there until she and her ex separated. Eventually, Daniela remarried and had two more children.

Throughout the years, the 47-year-old found herself working odd jobs across the restaurant industry in the U.S., despite not speaking English. During one stretch as a cook for an Irish pub, Daniela remembered her boss suggesting she make changes to the menu. Another manager wasn't fond of Daniela’s direction, and suggested Daniela was trying to steal her job.

No matter the challenge, Daniela remained committed to her dream of owning her own restaurant.

She recalled having a heart-to-heart with her now-husband about her desire to settle down. Daniela was tired of playing games, she said. Her husband agreed and they eventually made their way to Colony Ridge in 2017.

The couple first bought their home in the area before investing on the lot down the street from their home where Sugar Grill Caffe stands today.

Even though Daniela knows if she stayed in Panamá she would likely have a more prestigious position at a fancier establishment, owning Sugar Grill Caffe grounds her.

It’s part of her familial legacy, and it’s a skillset that Daniela practices every day.

“Every person has their art,” she said. “This is my art. I give you [this] and you tell me, ‘How great.'”

Johnathan Johnson, 31, Johnathan Bladez Men’s Hair Care owner

In Colony Ridge, you can’t just Google “barber shops near me.”

At least, that’s been Johnathan Johnson’s experience in the Liberty County development where he moved with his wife and daughter about two years ago — prompting the 31-year-old to open up his own shop.

The New Orleans native became a barber during the pandemic and cut hair in Houston before he bought a house in Colony Ridge’s Santa Fe subdivision and started Johnathan Bladez Men’s Hair Care inside his garage.

On a Tuesday morning in early March, Johnathan whipped around David Thibodeau, a regular, to face the mirror.

“What do we think?” Johnathan asked his customer.

“Lemme check with the boss,” David said with a laugh, pointing to an incoming FaceTime call from his wife.

After David gets the stamp of approval and heads home, Johnathan takes a seat in one of the burgundy leather chairs next to his Honda VTX 1300 motorcycle, which is prominently on display across from the barber’s chair.

Johnathan wants the shop to become a staple in the Colony Ridge community.

“It’s working, slowly,” he said. “People honk their horns and wave when they pass by. It’s gradual.”

Before cutting hair, Johnathan was a welder for a shop that made drill bits, but he didn’t appreciate being unable to control his own schedule. So, during the pandemic, Johnathan headed to barber school and joined the Bad Boyz Barber Shop in Houston, but always had a dream for something bigger.

After moving to Colony Ridge, he decided to take the leap.

Johnathan sees about 45 customers a week — sometimes more, sometimes less. The hardest part about laying down roots in the Liberty County development has been building on that momentum, which he began by passing out business cards door-to-door across the Santa Fe subdivision.

“The barber industry is really about building relationships,” Johnathan said. “And it’s refreshing to connect with people.”

Those connections fuel the barber’s soul as he continues to grow his clientele list from an initial conversation outside the local gas station to a deep talk with longtime customers, or “kindred spirits,” as he calls them.

“I feel like they’re my brothers,” Johnathan said. “They come here and talk about what they can’t share at work or at home.”

Irving Aragon Ramos, 45, Tlayudas House owner

Irving Aragon Ramos vividly remembers watching his mother manage her business in Oaxaca, Mexico. She would travel eight-hours to buy products and then make her way to the tiendita, little store, to open for the night.

“Sometimes my mother would end up so tired from work and there wasn’t anyone to sell, so I picked [cooking] up as a game,” he said in Spanish.

Irving embodies her hustle — like mother, like son.

The 45-year-old owns Tlayudas House, a food truck operation that features pieces of his home state, like their main dish: the traditional Tlayuda Oaxaqueña.

The giant tortilla can be filled with queso de hebra, or Oaxacan cheese, fried black beans, pork lard, plus lettuce and your meat of choice. People always want something different and the tlayuda gives them something they can’t replicate, Irving said.

For Irving, the dream was always to share his home state’s foods and traditions.

“What makes me the most proud is being one of the first [people] in Houston to bring Oaxaquena food to a more elevated level,” he said. “That was my dream.”

He begins each day at 6 a.m. running errands for the business and then drives an hour from Spring Branch to Colony Ridge to open Tlayudas House. The Liberty County development allowed him to turn his dream into a reality, even if it’s a two-hour round trip each day — a sacrifice Irving doesn’t mind making.

He also imports other traditional Mexican foods like garnachas, huaraches, flor de calabaza quesadillas, mole and chapulines.

Before landing in Colony Ridge, Irving would sell food out of his apartment in Spring Branch, but he stopped in 2009 when importing tlayudas became too difficult.

He didn’t think he’d return to serving the traditional food.

For the next six years, Irving worked as a gardener, but when manufacturing tlayudas became more profitable, he revisited his original dream.

In the beginning of 2022, Irving’s brother told him about Colony Ridge, which had attracted a large population of Oaxaqueños to the area. He never imagined operating a food truck but he decided it was worth a shot as long as he found a place to permanently station it.

On a Friday evening in early March, Irving’s food truck is decked out in traditional sugar skulls and flowers from his home state. One of his employees is dressed in traditional Oaxacan clothes — a black, orange, flowy, and embroidered dress — as she rings a bell to notify a customer their food is ready.

Sitting on a picnic bench next to Tlayudas House, Irving said he hopes to develop the business into a more traditional restaurant with upfront seating and a closed-off, air-conditioned area for dine-in customers. Eventually, he plans to open a small brick-and-mortar location in Houston.

“If my vision was to make money, this wouldn't function,” he said. “You have to be focused on what you want in the future. I am focused on people becoming familiar with their plate: their food and the type of tlayuda.”

Susana Cazares, 49, Leo’s Beer Barn owner

From the moment Susana Cazares and her family arrived in the U.S., they always had a job — usually two.

The 49-year-old and her husband would knock on neighbors' doors for an opportunity to clean someone's home or sell food outside of a construction site.

A longtime Colony Ridge resident, Cazares fostered her entrepreneurial spirit in the development. Over the years she and her husband, Jesus Lopez, established a land-clearing business, another laying gravel for roads and driveways, a mechanical bull-riding rental operation and, most recently, Leo's Beer Barn.

“Good afternoon! How are you?” Susana asked a customer in Spanish, greeting them as they walked inside Leo’s on a Friday evening in April.

The family business beckons passersby with its bright red barn on the corner of County Road 5000 in Colony Ridge’s Montebello subdivision. On a typical evening, a line of cars wraps around the driveway to enter Leo’s, usually to pick up a six-pack of Modelos or una agua fresca.

In 2020, the business started as a vironguería, slang for a drive-thru that sells beer, and Susana would offer customers crawfish for sale on the side. Eventually, Leo’s expanded to include interior seating and a full menu.

Susana, the family matriarch, runs the restaurant — from mixing drinks to helping her son, Leonidas Lopez (whom Leo’s is named after) prepare crawfish.

The restaurant requires 13 employees and Susana’s immediate family to keep the place running. This is the fourth enterprise Susana’s family has tackled while living in Colony Ridge.

The adventure, she said, has been completely worthwhile.

“[Being] a merchant —I think that’s something we carry in our blood,” she said. “It's something we already have in our blood.”

Susana and Jesus both hail from a long line of business owners, but Susana credits her work ethic and resiliency to her mother. As a teenager, Susana watched her mother advocate for her father as his nurse and legal guardian while he battled alcoholism.

“I've always known that the pillar of strength has to be me for my mom,” she said.

After her father’s death, Susana and her mother bought a small tienda in Mexico to sell juice and smoothies.

Owning a business wasn’t on Susana’s list of dreams when she migrated to the U.S. — safety was. Years later, not only has she secured that safety, but also a thriving business that’s become a hub of community.

On a Friday evening in April, Susana tends to customers that pull up to the drive-thru before stepping away to keep an eye on her family’s children. She blows bubbles with the kids as the sun sets.

Susana’s journey as a businesswoman began as a 19-year-old managing a juice stand with her mother. Thirty years later, she has become an entrepreneur despite the vast cultural and language barriers.

“We know it's not our country, but simply we have to do things right,” she said. “People need to trust themselves, trust themselves, and try.”

Luis Lorenzo, 37, Barbacoa El Maguey owner

One day, eight years ago, Luis Lorenzo had a terrible meal at a Mexican place in Houston. The restaurant was advertised as Hidalguense but the barbacoa de borrego, or barbecue lamb, wasn’t what Luis, a Hidalgo native, expected.

The 37-year-old knew then that if this was the competition, he could open a truly authentic Mexican restaurant to much greater success.

In 2016, Luis and his family began selling food out of their home in the Houston area before discovering and moving to Colony Ridge.

Luis developed Barbacoa El Maguey into the restaurant that stands today in the development’s Santa Fe subdivision. Twenty-two years ago, he left his home country at 15-years-old with hope for a better future, but never could have imagined where he would wind up.

“Everything can be done in life. Put an idea in your head and everything can be done with sacrifice,” he said when asked what he would tell his 15-year-old self. “Nothing is handed to you without sacrifices. If it can be done, you can do it — you can do anything you want to.”

Preparing Barbacoa El Maguey’s signature dish — the barbacoa de borrego — is an all-night affair and is only served on the weekends.

This lamb-based barbecue is usually reserved for special occasions, like birthdays, quinceañeras, weddings or holidays. When prepared properly, the meat is very tender and can be served on tacos or on its own in the meat’s broth.

“So, the food can't be found easily here or in other places in the United States,” he said. “That's why we put ourselves to bring a taste of Mexico, a taste of Hidalgo, for people to familiarize themselves or to try food they haven't in a while.”

On a typical day at El Maguey, you can find some of Luis’ nieces as well as his wife, other family members and a few neighbors maintaining day-to-day operations in the restaurant, tending to customers and manning tables.

Luis comes in on Sundays when he’s not managing the construction company he owns. When he works inside the restaurant, Luis explained that it’s important to him that the rest of the workers and clients do not see him as the owner, but rather just another employee.

“We didn't expect the results of the restaurant. We didn't expect that success,” Luis said. “It was only an adventure. It began as an idea said out loud.”

Director of Photography Marie D. De Jesús and reporter Danya Pérez contributed to this article.

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