BY JOE ARCE AND COREY CRABLE
David Lopez has traveled across the United States. And to Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. But, he says, there’s truly no place like Kansas City.
David should know. He’s the co-owner of one of the city’s most popular and iconic eateries, Manny’s Mexican Restaurant. Lopez is just one of the many business owners who welcomes the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) in early October when the organization hosts its national conference here.
In 1980, David’s late father, longtime restaurateur Manny Lopez, helped develop the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City father and son traveled to other cities not only to spread the word about Kansas City’s Hispanic community, but also to learn from similar organizations about their operations, resources, and events.
“He got the national experience, took what he learned from other cities, and he also took the national format and brought it here to Kansas City,” David says of his father, who died in 2016. “And it was fantastic. It was him my father and a handful of wonderful men and women who knew Kansas City needed this type of organization in order to further our cause as Hispanics here in Kansas City. It was powerful and it was bold.”
Most of the time, Manny Lopez would pay out of his own pocket for that travel no matter where the USHCC was holding their annual conference. But, David says, he always saw the value in doing so.
“I’m not who I am today without that experience. I think of wonderful people like Jose Nino, who was the president of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce when I was younger, traveling with my dad. This guy would let me play golf with him,” David recalls. “He would let me sit at the table with him. I would sit right next to him, and we would talk about football, and we would talk about how important it is to build the community, too. He was just so friendly to me. And he showed me how he did what he was doing and the value of it.”
Now, with his restaurant 65 employees and decades of business experience under his belt, David says one of the most valuable lessons he’s learned is how to uplift and inspire not just those who work for him, but the entire community as well.
“I’m just trying to make my father proud,” he says. “I just want the 65 people that work for Manny’s Restaurant to know that they have somebody who believes in them and somebody who truly loves them.”
There’s lots of love for the Hispanic community, too, which has shaped David’s beliefs and business practices since Manny’s opened in 1980, the same year as the U.S. Hispanic Chamber’s first their conference in Kansas City.
“The Hispanic community is blazing a trail -- always has, always will, and we’ll continue to do so. We don’t bang our own drums. We’re not expecting a parade. We don’t need people to celebrate us. We do what we do because we take tremendous pride in that work producing for others and giving for others,” David says. “We, as a Latino community, our country was built on the backs of our work, our labor, our quiet labor, our quiet work, our quiet push to move this country forward throughout American history.”
He continues, “You are watching the Latino community play a tremendous role, quietly, faithfully, lovingly for the people they care about, without entitlement, without expectations. We do the work because we love the work. We take pride in who we are as individuals. We take pride in who we are as a family and as a culture and as a community.”
The Hispanic community brought that same strong work ethic coupled with humility and a sense of duty to the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic as well, David adds.
“COVID completely changed how this country operates and how this country works. There were a lot of people that were looking for handouts that were playing the why me,the entitlement game, and for valid reasons. The Latino community did not,” he notes. “We rolled up our sleeves, we took care of the people we loved the most, and we moved forward because we valued the importance of the next step. And that is something that we all need to be extremely proud of.”
Throughout his career, David says his family remains his constant source of support, inspiration, and joy.
“My father never pressured me to be in this business. My father always wanted me to do what I felt in my heart and what I loved. My father allowed for me to have an opportunity by training Debbie Lopez and Kim Lopez and Kathy Lopez and Renee Lopez -- those are my sisters -- all playing a huge role in in the story that is Manny’s restaurant. And now it’s my turn to write my chapter in the legacy of Manny’s restaurant,” he says, “and I would not get my turn to do that if it wasn’t for Debbie, Renee, Kathy, and Kim and the most unsung hero, Vivian Lopez, the wizard behind Oz.”
Estella Morales, who connected with Kansas City’s Hispanic Chamber in the early 1990s, remembers her time as the organization’s first chairwoman.
“It was an experience because women were just breaking the glass ceiling at that time and it was very interesting. I enjoyed it very much, working with them,” Morales says. “But back in those days, it was the men outranked the women.
And when the USHCC came to town in those early days, she felt pride in seeing other women lead the way, just like her.
So much has changed, and what they began, we’re now seeing the results of that and it’s all positive,” said Morales, crediting Paul Rodriguez and Manny Lopez and others with helping to bring the national USHCC conference to Kansas City. “We’re honored to have them to be here and that they’re we’re hosting them. We think Kansas City is the best place to be.”
And if those visitors end up loving the city, too? Well, that’s just fine with David Lopez.
“Welcome to the heart of the United States of America. It’s OK to fall in love with Kansas City. That’s my message to everyone. It’s OK to fall in love because we’re going to love you right out of the gate. That’s what we do here. Our people here are fantastic,” David says. It’s not the Chiefs, it’s not the Royals, It’s not T -Mobile, it’s not the food scene, it’s not the art, it’s not the jazz. It’s not anything other than the people. The people of Kansas City are truly its greatest asset, and the Hispanic community is a very, very big part of that.”
