Acapulco Joe's Connection

It’s hard to talk about Acapulco Joe’s without immediately thinking of the people—the families, coworkers, friends, and generations of Indy folks—who built memories inside that little restaurant on Illinois Street. And every one of those stories started with Jose Guadalupe Robles Rangel, “Acapulco Joe,” who brought his warm spirit and Mexican cooking to Indianapolis in the 1950s.

One of the things people still mention to us is how the restaurant would stop everything to play God Bless America every single day. Servers paused; guests stood, and for a moment the whole room felt connected. It was simple, but it mattered—and it became one of the traditions that made Acapulco Joe’s feel like home to so many.

When Joe began serving his hometown Mexican dishes at Joe’s Fine Food in 1970, the lines went out the door. The restaurant's name eventually changed to Acapulco Joe’s and soon his menu, including the signature sweet and sassy squeeze bottle sauce, became an Indianapolis staple. By the 1980s, the restaurant wasn’t only a popular spot to eat; it was part of Indy’s identity. Joe's kindness and delicious food left a permanent mark on the city. Even as ownership changed and the restaurant changed locations, the memories people formed at Acapulco Joe’s lived on!

That legacy eventually found its way to Acapulco Joe’s sister restaurant La Chica’s owned by the Farmer Family in 1996. The Farmers quickly realized just how special that sweet and sassy squeeze bottle sauce really was. Even after La Chica’s changed hands and closed down, the sauce lived on at family gatherings, holiday parties, and summer festivals—and in the stories people kept sharing: “My parents used to take me there,” “That sauce reminds me of my childhood,” “It tastes exactly like I remember.”

In 2020, our family decided to officially launch Acapulco Joe’s Sassy Sauce. We are thrilled to keep the Acapulco Joe’s legacy alive and share Sassy Sauce with the great people of Indy and the rest of the whole wide world!