In 1933, Francisco Iriarte emigrated from Elizondo, a picturesque village in the Baztan Valley, Spain, to Mexico City. When he arrived, he noticed that no churros were being sold, so he decided to set up a cart in the Zócalo to share this traditional delicacy with the Mexicans, taking a piece of their culture with him.
As a tribute to his homeland, he named his business “El Moro”, in honor of a churro vendor from his hometown. Thus, he managed to keep alive a memory of his origin in this new adventure.
Eventually, his churros conquered Mexico City. The demand grew so much that, with great effort, he acquired a store at number 42 of the then Avenida San Juan de Letrán, today Eje Central. In 1935, during Mexico’s Golden Age, Churrería El Moro opened its doors, becoming a meeting point that has welcomed national and international figures as well as families from all over the world.
In 1940, Francisco passed away, but his legacy continued with his brothers José, Santiago and Ignacio, who traveled from Spain to keep the tradition alive. Since then, Churrería El Moro has remained a family business that, generation after generation, continues to be an emblematic place, a meeting point and an icon of Mexico City.