The restaurant business is grueling enough for an adult, but Aiden Sterling is knocking it out of the park while barely sufficiently old to vote.
The hyper-ambitious 18-year-old is bucking the stereotype of the TikTok-addicted Gen Z layabout by running a successful Brooklyn taqueria — while still in highschool.
Sterling is the owner of Tacos Del Barrio, a vibrant joint in Park Slope near Barclays Center that focuses on Mexican specialties from juicy tacos al pastor ($9.50) to burritos the dimensions of duffel bags ($15.95 for carne asada) and his tres leches cake ($7.50), that are all made fresh day by day in-house.
Opened just last month, his taco joint is serving around 165 checks a day with a second location slated to open in FiDi this fall — not bad for a man who, when The Post visited, was balancing his business duties while also attempting to secure a suit for his senior prom.
“I learn all the things from scratch,” Sterling, who manages a crew of eight, said. “And I’m just going day-to-day.”
“My biggest goal here at Tacos Del Barrio is that when people are available through the doors, hopefully, you permit with a greater feeling.”
The self-assured senior attends classes from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. at James Madison High School in Midwood, after which rides his electric bike across Brooklyn and to Tacos Del Barrio, where he works his butt off from 12 p.m. until 12 a.m.
Midnight to three a.m. is reserved for schoolwork, often accomplished on the counter of his restaurant, which leaves him just three to 4 hours of sleep an evening.
Sterling insists that [school is] still the “primary thing at the top of the day,” declaring, “obviously, business is business. But I gotta graduate.”
How does this budding Danny Meyer spin all these plates at such a young age — and with none prior restaurant industry experience? He credits his three years as captain of his highschool basketball team.
“This work ethic got here from being an athlete first,” the food world wunderkind said. “I believe of labor like basketball. I actually have my starting five (employees) and I’m going with the flow.”
Very like a highschool star getting scouted by the NBA, he got here upon the chance while figuring out on the Lifetime gym, where he became close with the owners of Poke Bowl United, a fast-casual chain with 14 branches across Latest York, Latest Jersey and Long Island.
“[We were] figuring out three, 4 months, five and every single day,” Sterling recalled. “They usually were like, ‘hey man, we love your work ethic.’”
The team explained they were “signing a lease” in Brooklyn and wanted to provide the teenager the “reins,” provided he could give you a viable idea. The starry-eyed Sterling noted the world had a gaping quick-serve Mexican void.
“They believed in me. A child with no money,” said Sterling, who put all of the dough he saved up from lifeguarding into the enterprise while the Poke Bowl crew handled the remainder of the financials, background and logistics.
He spent months researching Mexican joints — which required him to miss his beloved basketball practice — and he compiled the most effective elements of his favorite taco joints: the housemade corn tortillas and core protein bases like Los Tacos No. 1 and a best-selling battered fish taco like Los Tacos’ sister restaurant, Los Mariscos.
“My motto here is authentic, but with a twist,” said Sterling, who runs Tacos Del Barrio’s social media as well. “Authentic is the chef’s part. I say, ‘Hey, let’s kick it up a notch and put some of these items that I discovered to be interesting at other locations.’”
One in all the junior restaurateur’s proudest inventions is a tackle Trader Joe’s “corn ribs” that involves splitting elote — savory Mexican street corn with queso fresco and chili powder — into manageable slices like maize McNuggets ($6.95).
Still, the highschool hotshot has no illusions about working within the restaurant biz, which he called the “hardest industry on the earth.”
“You could have to make people glad with the food … you may have to be consistent,” he said. “So this morning I got here in and something was off. I used to be like, ‘I can’t serve this.’ So we remade it. That’s my quality control.”
All told, Sterling loves the liberty and creativity.
“I can do whatever I would like to,” said the culinary prodigy. “You may’t do it with a nine-to-five. I actually have so many ideas and thoughts in my head that I just wish to get out and do.”
With highschool graduation approaching on June 23, Sterling could have more time to dedicate to Tacos Del Barrio.
“It’ll be much easier,” said the food phenom, who plans to take a spot 12 months to place “101%” into the business.
“I would like to get to the purpose where I’m generally known as Aiden from Tacos Del Barrio and another enterprise that I do, it will succeed because people can trust me,” he said. For now, he just hopes to “stay consistent and proceed to have a good time.”
