One Tulsa woman's secret to a successful business

Edith Rojas believes hard work is the secret of her success. She turned a struggling Brookside restaurant into a successful family business. <br/><br/>Her story may be a familiar one, but it's the

Wednesday, March 9th 2005, 10:00 am

By: News On 6

Edith Rojas believes hard work is the secret of her success. She turned a struggling Brookside restaurant into a successful family business.

Her story may be a familiar one, but it's the kind of story we love to hear. News on 6 reporter Rick Wells has Edith Rojas' story.

â€œDo you know what you want?" Edith Rojas still does a little bit of everything at Casa Laredo. She's owned the Brookside restaurant since 1988 and worked there for the 20 years before that.

How that all came about is a wonderful story of courage and hard work. For political reasons we moved from Bolivia to Argentina." Her older brother had been killed and she and her five other brothers and sisters sought refuge in Argentina.

She came to Tulsa to help one of her sisters who had come here, that was 1968. "I started working in the kitchen when I came to this country, because I didn't speak any English." As her English improved she began working out front. In 1988, the restaurant was struggling so she took it over, it's been a popular stop ever since.

A mural on the back wall includes some of the famous faces who've eaten here. Col. Sanders and Minnie Pearl, Johnny Cash and Liza Minneli. But it's her everyday customers she loves the most. "I feel like my customers, they are part of my family." And she treats them that way; she's every child's extra grandma.

She says she can't imagine being anywhere else. "I just love this place. I feel like without hands when I don't do this."

Sounds like Casa Laredo's going to be around for a long time to come. 10 of her nieces and nephews have paid for college working in the restaurant.

Casa Laredo is located in the Old Village Center at 1411 East 41st Street. It is open every day for lunch and dinner.