‘Carlos and Pepe’s is Roberto Martinez’: Longtime owner of Fort Lauderdale Mexican cantina retiring after 44 years

Roberto Martinez is achingly close to retirement after 44 years in the kitchen at Carlos & Pepe’s in Fort Lauderdale, emphasis on the “ache.” But of course, there’s always something.

“Hold on a second,” he says by phone Friday morning, a day after telling the public that he sold and will step down from one of the city’s oldest, most revered Mexican cantinas.

“One of the fryers is out,” he says, fidgeting with something metal in the background. “The pilot light was having a problem and… OK, it’s finally staying on now, it’s fixed.”

Not even during an interview about his retirement can Martinez stop working. But his bones are screaming at him, so on July 1, Martinez will say goodbye to the 17th Street Causeway restaurant where he’s worked since it opened in 1979.

“It comes to a point in your life where your body says you did enough,” Martinez says. “Well, I’m over 60, and my body is starting to say ‘slow down,’ and that’s basically the main reason.”

As a show of solidarity — an admission that they didn’t see a future running Carlos & Pepe’s without Martinez — his business partners, John and Sandy Benz, will also retire at the end of June.

The new owners will be Richard Ehmke, a former used car lot owner, and his wife, Paula Ehmke, a California and Fort Lauderdale restaurateur with 29 years of experience, including the kitchens of Cafe Maxx, Bistro Mezzaluna and Valentina Cucina Italiana. After signing a new 10-year lease this month, the Ehmkes expect to take over by July 1, pending new food and liquor licenses.

“Carlos & Pepe’s is Roberto Martinez,” Richard Ehmke says. “He’s a soft-spoken, mild-mannered man, and nothing but a gentleman and a professional in this changeover. We’re going to put up a really nice plaque about his legacy, that he’s the heart and soul of Fort Lauderdale, so that everyone who comes in the front door will know he’s the cornerstone of this place.”

And what a legacy. Martinez, who grew up on a farm in Guatemala, began as a 17-year–old busboy in 1979 and became Carlos & Pepe’s full manager two years later. During the 1980s, he managed Carlos & Pepe’s other locations in California, rubbing elbows with “a lot of the movie stars,” such as Charlie Sheen and Rat Packers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. at the now-defunct Malibu location. In 2017, Martinez and the Benzes took over the restaurant from founder Dave Alderman, who started the restaurant with partners Burt Rapoport and Dennis Max.

He also introduced new recipes at the Mexican restaurant, including tamales, black bean soup, fish tacos and a spicier version of its fajitas, adds bar manager Karen Herrera, who is Martinez’s niece and has worked at Carlos & Pepe’s for 21 years.

On the job near the end of her first pregnancy 16 years ago, Herrera was craving ice cream from Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor in Dania Beach. “He actually stopped and went to get me Jaxson’s ice cream. I’ll never forget that. Roberto taught me everything I know and was always there for me.”

Herrera “did try to talk him out of retiring,” she adds, laughing.

“Some customers cried when he told them yesterday,” she says. “I mean, I’ve been here half my life, and it would be a hard decision to move on. Can you imagine how he would adjust after working seven days a week for 44 years? I don’t think he realizes yet.”

On the restaurant’s Facebook page, longtime customers reacted to Martinez’s retirement with a mixture of shock and bittersweet sadness, painting the affable owner as a Fort Lauderdale classic, a reliable bedrock of a maturing, growing city. Others described him as “family” and hoped the restaurant’s new owners wouldn’t change Carlo’s & Pepe’s recipes.

Some changes will be necessary, says Paula Ehmke, who will handle the day-to-day at Carlos & Pepe’s. She’s already hired a new chef, Angela Vargas, who operates the Mexican-themed restaurant booth El Rey del Tamal at Yellow Green Farmers Market in Hollywood. Ehmke says they plan to relaunch the restaurant in October with a new paint job, decor and a refreshed menu with new Mexicali dishes, including Baja fish tacos, ceviche and quesabirria tacos.

Carlos & Pepe’s bestsellers – crab nachos, tuna dip – will remain, but “I’m going to get rid of what’s not selling,” she says. “I want to bring the West Coast flavors to the East Coast. South Florida is diverse but doesn’t have a lot of authentic Mexican food, and I want to bring this restaurant back to its luster.”

Will Martinez miss his perch at the helm of Carlos & Pepe’s? He says there’s always something he can worry about.

“I just want Carlos & Pepe’s to go on for many more years,” he says. “And I’ll be coming back to criticize the food and make sure they’re doing it right.”