Jose “Pepe” Stepensky has his hands full with running several business franchises, acting as artistic director for the only Latino theater troupe in San Diego and producing documentaries on the side. Despite the number of tasks on his plate, he certainly has the energy level to keep it up. In fact, Stepensky ventures have thrived. After taking over a burger joint in Seaport Village nearly 20 years ago, he succeeded in making San Diego Burger Company one of San Diego’s top 100 brands. Ironically, Stepensky — a vegetarian — has never tried one of his famous burgers. Much of his success can be attributed to his thorough research. When he first opened the business, he went to popular burger restaurants to learn from the best. “I was sitting there for hours watching the cooks do everything,” he said. “We also got people’s opinion and we pay attention to what people say.” Six months after first opening the place, he was still learning tricks of the trade. Guests commented that they loved the burgers, but that the bottom bun quickly got soggy. Soon after, a friend who used to work for Jack in the Box told him that the vegetables needed to go on the bottom to prevent the buns from getting soggy. “God always helps the fools,” he said. “You cannot sell a burger that is a four on a scale of one to ten, because people will notice.” Stepensky uses ground sirloin steak for his famous burgers. More than 20 types of burgers are offered at San Diego Burger Company from healthy staples such as turkey, chicken and veggie to unusual eats such as buffalo, ostrich and kangaroo. “There’s no way that you can go there and someone can’t find anything on the menu,” he said. “We have something for everyone.” Two years after successfully launching San Diego Burger Company, Stepensky bought Margarita’s Kitchen and Cantina — formerly La Fresca — and later established The Cerveza Store in Seaport Village. He has come a long way since his move from Mexico to the United States in 1986. He not only salvaged several businesses in Seaport Village from floundering and expanded his franchise beyond the Village, but has become successful with theatre art direction and film production as well. He has won three Emmy awards for his production of the documentary film “The Land of Milk and Honey,” acts as art director for Teatro Punto y Coma, the only Latino theater troupe in San Diego and is the go-to voice-over talent for many of America’s major Hispanic advertising agencies. — Mariko Lamb
