One of Portland, Oregon’s most acclaimed pizza makers journeyed back to his native Mexico last month with high hopes, looking to clear the final red-tape hurdle to securing his green card. Now he’s stuck there, likely for 18 months or longer, if not indefinitely. Now his food truck is closed for business, and it will cost at least $20,000—and perhaps some good luck—to reunite him with wife and two small children in the U.S.
Roberto Hernandez Guerrero, owner of Reeva Café y Cocina a la Leña, has been barred from reentry to the U.S., despite a glowing reputation for integrity, talent, skill and kindness. The Oregonian named Reeva one of Portland’s best mobile restaurants in 2022. That same year The Oregonian also praised his pizzaleada—a scrumptious riff on the Honduran baleada, as one of the city’s best dishes. And Eater Portland has praised Hernandez Guerrero for firing up some of the best pizzas in the entire city.
Before opening Reeva, Hernandez Guerrero worked at Portland’s famous Pizzeria Otto under owner Clark Hale. He has reportedly lived in the U.S. for 20-plus years.
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“He’s the best of us,” Hale told Here Is Oregon recently. “It’s just such a loss for Portland and this neighborhood.”
Hale said that Hernandez Guerrero (pictured above) blazed pies at Pizzeria Otto for three or four years before deciding to open his own pizza business. Instead of bolting and leaving Hale in the lurch, Hernandez Guerrero visited his then-boss at home—bearing a bowl of birria as an offering—and asked for Hale’s blessing on the endeavor.
“It was so classy,” Hale said. “I don’t know anyone with more integrity in this industry than Roberto.”
In a recent social media post, Hale wrote, “While he worked [at Pizzeria Otto], Roberto was an integral part of our team and an indispensable colleague and friend. When he moved on from Otto to start Reeva, he became an integral part of our neighborhood and an indispensable member of our city’s pizza scene.”
Pizzeria Otto hosted a fundraiser for Hernandez Guerrero at both its locations on Thursday, December 4. Hale donated 100% of the profits to Hernandez Guerrero’s loved ones living in Portland: his wife, Roseva Alcerro, and their five-year-old daughter and six-month-old son.
Additionally, a GoFundMe page has been created to raise money for Hernandez Guerrero and his family. It will go towards “covering some of his legal fees and lost income due to this terrible turn of events.” The legal obstacles include applying for and receiving a “perdón,” technically a “provisional unlawful presence waiver” to the tune of nearly $20,000.
“Roberto’s roots run deep here, and he is a valued member of our community,” the GoFundMe page states. “This unexpected turn of events has shattered his family and friends, and they are still coming to terms with the situation as they try to navigate the uncertain path ahead.”
How good is Hernandez Guerrero’s food? The Oregonian ranked it at No. 2 in its 2022 list of Portland’s best new food carts.
“Here, chef and co-owner Roberto Hernandez Guerrero creates unique pizzas, some with Central and South American flavors, all while firing traditional Italian pies tasty enough to hold their own against Portland’s best,” Michael Russell wrote. “But the dish that keeps us coming back is the pizzaleada ($8), a Reeva original riffing on the baleada, a large Honduran taco made expertly by co-owner Roseva Alcerro’s mother.”
Russell went on to explain, “The pizzaleada comes on thin-stretched, char-dappled dough with refried beans, cheese, chile-spiced crema and your choice of chorizo, avocado and fried egg….With its paper slip barely containing the yolk from a flash-cooked egg, it remains one of the tastiest things I’ve eaten this year.”
In a social media review of Reeva’s pizzaleada last year (see below), Beau La Fave of the Portland Pizza Tour exulted, “I’m obsessed with this thing. This is like if a pizza and a taco had a baby….This is unreal. It’s immaculate, honestly.”
Even so, Reeva, despite its popularity and community goodwill, has been closed for business, at least temporarily, and Hernandez Guerrero remains stuck in red-tape limbo south of the U.S. border…while his family anxiously awaits resolution in Portland.
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