This longtime server has helped Tucson favorite Mi Nidito shine for 32 years

A restaurant with history is more than its legend, the weight of the years it has accumulated.

Mi Nidito might be best known for hosting Bill Clinton while he was president. It might have endured for 70 years and a global pandemic.

But its longevity materializes in the lives of Tucsonans: children grow up going to Mi Nidito for special occasions, and when they grow up and become parents, they bring their own kids. The interior of the famous restaurant at 1813 S. Fourth Ave. is the setting of decades of reunions and celebrations. One of the people who has created that sense of place is Roberto Flores-Peña.

When you walk into Mi Nidito, you’ll be greeted by Jimmy Lopez — who owns the restaurant with his brother, Ernie Lopez III — at the cash register. Its entrance foyer is plastered with photos of its famous visitors; you’ll find Roberto in one with a baseball player. “I don’t usually like pictures but I make an exception for sports stars,” Robert said.

Behind the wall of fame, there’s a bay of seats for people waiting for tables. People will elect to extend their wait for a table with Roberto, but he discourages it: you could be waiting a long time. Regulars spot him even on his vacations: he's been recognized at Disneyland and Rocky Point by customers.

The long wait for a table becomes part of the experience at Mi Nidito, an act of devotion, time freely given. Roberto will come by and ask you how you’re doing, if you need water. (He keeps a forest of straws in his apron pocket.)

It’s the back of the restaurant, in the most tangled depths of string lights, tropical murals and silk-leaved vines where you’ll find his section. He has been working here for over 30 years, starting as a dishwasher at age 19. He works every day the restaurant is open, with a double shift on Sundays.

“I don’t remember ever a time when you don’t see him,” said Elisa Monteverde, a regular at Mi Nidito for over 20 years.

“You can’t really think of one without the other,” I said. “Exactly! Exactly,” she said.

Mi Nidito is the kind of restaurant where you come back and order your favorite menu item every time — Elisa orders shredded beef tacos every time. Her husband, the chicken chimichanga. Her kids split the enormous cheese crisp.

One birthday (Mi Nidito is Elisa’s birthday restaurant of choice), Elisa brought cake — and gave a slice to Roberto, too.

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“It sounds cheesy, but it’s like family, you know?” Elisa said. “I don’t know what else to say other than it feels like home there, and it’s because of the people.”

When Roberto started at Mi Nidito in 1990, there was a hierarchy in the restaurant: you start as a dishwasher, then you become a cook, then a busboy, then a server. He joined as a dishwasher and worked his way up.

Serving is the coveted position where you get to take home tips. Roberto has even received tickets for his family to go to the World Series when a Houston Astro who stopped by every spring training made it to the championship.

Roberto likes his job because it pays well to do something he loves anyway: meeting people, being a part of their lives, making customers happy. “I like the people,” he said.

Whether you speak English or Spanish, it doesn’t matter to him. “No matter what, no matter who sits at my tables, I act the same way,” he said. Though his first language was Spanish, he learned English over his 32 years on the job. (Mi Nidito is a perfect place to become bilingual, because customers will speak both languages to servers, and staff speak both languages among themselves.)

When he speaks to you, it’s with a familiar comfort, like he’s known you for a long time. In a way, he has — he knows the Mi Nidito customer better than almost anyone. It was in a conspiratorial tone that he shared his favorite menu item: the flat enchiladas, which he orders with a top of birria (shredded beef).

“If I were to describe Roberto in one word, it would be efficient,” Jimmy said. “But if I could pick a second word, it would be loyal.”

When Jimmy’s father — Mi Nidito’s founder Ernesto Lopez — died a few years ago, he offered Roberto a place of honor behind the cashier. It’s where all the money is, and only the most trusted employees can run it.

Roberto declined. Though he “feels like a brother,” he said, “I'm not a family member.” Yet, Ernesto gave him his blessing.

“‘Roberto, this is your business, take care of your business,’” Roberto remembers Jimmy telling him. “‘Four tables, two tables, it's your business. I'll never forget it.’ ... He told me, ‘Mijo,’ in Spanish, we were speaking Spanish, ‘Roberto, this is tu casa, tu mesa, thank you.’”