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Tio Pepe owners savor continued success

Jimmy and Rocio Sanz, owners of Tio Pepe on W. Fourth St., as well as several other Spanish and Mexican restaurants, just seem to have a recipe for winning eateries.
Jimmy and Rocio Sanz, owners of Tio Pepe on W. Fourth St., as well as several other Spanish and Mexican restaurants, just seem to have a recipe for winning eateries.

BY ALBERT AMATEAU  |  Tio Pepe, the Spanish restaurant in the heart of the Village, is marking its 45th anniversary.

“We like to say we were born on the Fourth of July,” said Rocio Sanz, who with her husband, Jimmy, has been running Tio Pepe on W. Fourth St. since it opened in 1970 on Independence Day.

Since then, Tio Pepe, just west of Sixth Ave., has become a Village institution and the family business has expanded to include Burrito Loco, a Mexican restaurant, and Las Ramblas, a Tapas bar named for a famous street in Barcelona, both on the same block.

Jimmy, born and raised near the city of Zamora in Spain, came to New York in 1959, and settled on W. 14th St. in the neighborhood known then as New Spain.

“We met in 1967 in a club, Club Espana, on 14th St. where Nell’s was later,” recalled Rocio.

“I was going to open a restaurant with a partner on 53rd St. between Park and Madison,” said Jimmy. “But a big developer decided to demolish the building and bought everybody out just before we were going to open.”

The cash allowed Jimmy to look for a place on his own.

“A friend told me that this place [168 W. Fourth St.] was going to be available. It used to be a famous French restaurant, Le Bijou, a celebrity place,” he recalled.

“We opened in July and got married in October,” Rocio said. It was a hectic time. Rocio had just entered Hunter College and their son, Jimmy Jr., was born a little later.

“I don’t know how I did it, working at the restaurant seven days and going to school,” she said. “I had help from Jimmy’s sister and my mom, but it took dedication and determination. I graduated with honors — after about five years. But it was worth it. Having an education is so important. Nobody can take it away from you. I always ask young people about their plans for further education. It doesn’t have to be college, but they should think about it seriously.”

Of course, the Village has changed over the years. Jimmy recalled O. Henry’s Steak House on Sixth Ave. at W. Fourth St. where waiters wore butcher coats and bowler hats, and the flamenco club that used to occupy the site of The Monster on Grove St.

The couple opened Casa Pepe, another Spanish restaurant, in Bay Ridge in 1980; then Burrito Loco at 166 W. Fourth St. in 1984; Da Rosina on W. 46th St., Restaurant Row, in 1992; Las Ramblas at 170 W. Fourth St. in 2005; and the Taco Shop, also at 166 W. Fourth St., in 2013.

The family expanded, too. After Jimmy Jr., the twins, Natalie and Alexander, came, born in St. Vincent’s Hospital.

Rocio keeps trim with a tough regimen of boxing and kickboxing at local gyms. As if that were not enough, she takes ballroom and Latin dance classes.

“Until I started taking boxing, I didn’t realize how mental it was,” she noted. “You learn combinations and you have to be able to think about how to use them.”

Jimmy also works out at a gym.

“It makes you think in a new way with a different mindset from the rest of your day,” he said.

Rocio is very active in the Greenwich Village – Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, serving on the chamber’s board of directors. She is also a longtime member of Community Board 2 and currently serves on its Arts and Institutions Committee and Sidewalks and Street Activities Committee.

While she agrees with preservation advocates’ effort to keep the Village a low-rise neighborhood, Rocio was in favor of the plans to build a new St. Vincent’s Hospital tower on the site of the current 24-hour HealthPlex emergency department at 30 Seventh Ave.

“I’m convinced that if they had started construction on the new hospital, St. Vincent’s would have found the money to continue and wouldn’t have closed,” Rocio said. Contrary to many Villagers who opposed the high-rise new hospital, Rocio was a vocal supporter. “I said at the time that I was in favor of preserving lives rather than bricks. I’m sorry the hospital is gone but I’m glad the HealthPlex is there. I took a friend of mine who was injured and they were wonderful. The service and treatment were great. But I’m sad about St. Vincent’s,” she said.

All the Sanz children are Village residents. And they are all involved in managing the Tio Pepe group of restaurants. Asked if there were plans for another restaurant, Rocio and Jimmy said they were busy enough.