The secret sauce for Sacramento TikToker: Fluent Spanish and killer taco spots
Ivan Martinez looks like the kind of guy who’d mispronounce “quesadilla.” But when he walks up to the window at Tacos La Piedad in Sacramento and rattles off an order in flawless Spanish with a northern Mexico-style drawl, heads turn.
“Hi guys, I’m Ivan, I like going around California practicing my Spanish,” he says in an unmistakable California accent, opening each video on his TikTok account. What follows is one part social experiment, one part foodie pilgrimage, and one part linguistic whiplash for unsuspecting taquería staff who just watched a tall white guy pronounce “Tlacoyo” better than most.
Since November, the Winters native has been posting videos on social media that document his experiences practicing Spanish at Latin American eateries across Northern California. In the six months he’s been posting his journey online, Martinez has accumulated more than 250,000 followers and upward of 8 million likes on his @realkingivyyy account.
To his loyal TikTok audience, he’s either a prodigy or a deep-cover Mexican. The jury, judging from the comment section, is still out.
“There’s some people in my comments right now that have like, a conspiracy theory that I’m Mexican and I’m pretending to be white,” Martinez said.
His Hispanic last name doesn’t help disprove the conspiracy, he said. But his Martinez lineage doesn’t come from Latin America, rather Spain. Ivan is the third generation of his family to be born in the U.S. after his great-grandparents fled Spain for Winters.
“(My grandpa) was the only person in my family who spoke Spanish natively,” he said. “That was kind of a motivating factor (to learn the language).”
Despite telling himself over the years he would start learning Spanish, Martinez didn’t find the initial spark to start this journey until he joined a family trip in 2023 to Spain, where he said he felt disconnected from the community.
“I just felt bad that like there was, there’s this whole group of people that I can’t even really connect with, and I felt left out ... and embarrassed,” he said.
When he returned home, Martinez immediately went to work studying — and soon enough — eating too.
After taking online Spanish courses, Martinez realized he needed experience speaking Spanish in person, an important skill for his day job, where he often helps California field workers use and understand tools for monitoring agricultural equipment efficiency.
With more than 10 million native Spanish speakers in California, Martinez had no shortage of people to practice with — and he made it a priority.
“I live in this place where it’s 50% Latino, why don’t I go ... eat some Mexican food?” he said. “Whenever I was hungry, I’d be like, ‘Alright, time to practice my Spanish,’ and I’d go order some food and practice.”
Through this unique way of practicing a new language, Martinez has noticed his Spanish skills steadily improve and has found a multitude of great Latin American restaurants in the Sacramento, San Francisco and Napa areas, particularly small businesses.
“There’s good food everywhere, and I never really realized it, because I never explored that much,” he said.
His current favorite? El Cora Birria — a hidden gem slinging Tijuana-style tacos from inside a Sacramento gas station at 7900 Fruitridge Road in the Avondale neighborhood.
“(When) I go to someone’s restaurant and I start speaking in their language in a country, you know, that they’re not from ... and then I eat their great food and then I compliment them on their food ... you just kind of build this bond.”
Amid the newfound internet fame, Martinez said some of the best parts of the experience have been inspiring others to begin learning Spanish and connecting with people over their cultural cuisine.
“When you eat good food with someone — and it could be someone you don’t even know — it feels like you’ve known each other for a long time,” he said.
On a recent solo trip to Monterrey, Mexico, a follower invited Martinez to eat out at a local restaurant, and later to her family home for dinner, where they ate a Rosca de Reyes, a sweet bread decorated with candied fruit and fruit paste traditionally made in Mexico to celebrate Epiphany, or Three Kings Day.
“Food is a huge part of Latino culture,” Martinez said. “They really appreciate their food and they’re very proud of it, too.”
What I’m Eating
When I first read “Italian burrito” on a menu, I was horrified by the idea of wrapping spaghetti and meatballs in a dry flour tortilla.
I was relieved when I received a calzone-like pizza turnover at Notty’s Italian Burrito in the Rocklin Commons.
Chris Ewing launched the Italian burrito concept in the region on April 26, with a second location in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, following shortly after. Ewing said he is planning to open a Lincoln location off Ferrari Ranch Road in July.
The Italian burrito — which Ewing calls a Notty — came about when Ewing wanted to create “fast food Italian,” but realized many of the cuisine’s staples are not easily portable. Ewing combined the existing calzone concept with a love for air fryers to make an impossibly thin tortilla-like pizza dough wrap stuffed with a medley of toppings and melty mozzarella cheese.
While a calzone traditionally is made into a crescent shape, Ewing noticed the air fryer formed his dish into more of a rounded shape, hence the “burrito” title. Ewing’s six-ingredient dough recipe took two years to perfect as he strived to find a balance of sturdy and fluffy. Each batch takes three days to make, he said.
The Notty comes in one size, with pricing dependent on the toppings. A “Classic Notty” goes for $7.99 and includes simple pizza standards like cheese, pepperoni, sausage, ham and Hawaiian variants.
The “Notty Specialties” have more specialized fillings, but are still staples of most pizza spots, such as a Margherita or Meat Lovers option. This mid-tier of Notty goes for $9.99. You can also build your own Notty with up to five toppings at the same price. The top “Signature Dishes” tier is made up of four unique recipes, including the “it’s got everything” Hurricane and the Tommy, which has a lasagna filling. These elite Nottys are $13.99.
Ewing said his goal was to provide affordable options for all customers, charging a highly competitive price for his cheapest burritos while keeping a more expensive option within reach.
Gelato ($5.99) is currently unique to the Rocklin location, with seven flavors to choose from sourced from an Italy-based gelato manufacturer. The creamy confection is topped with a crunchy rolled wafer cookie.
Notty’s Italian Burrito
Address: 5194 Commons Drive, Suite 108, Rocklin
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
Phone: 916-259-1153
Drinks: Fountain drinks, bottled soda and energy drinks
Vegetarian options: Veggie Notty and build-your-own options available
Noise level: Moderate. Music playing over the speakers and the occasional air fryer alarm.
Outdoor seating: One small table on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant
Openings & Closings
▪ 524 Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, a longtime Sacramento Mexican spot, closed its doors on Sunday after more than 50 years in the region. The owners, Luisa Fonseca and her family, started a GoFundMe campaign to raise $50,000 to save the South Natomas restaurant but they were unable to surpass $1,000 before the closure date.
▪ Sal’s Kabob & Gyro Grill opened its second location at 728 K St. in downtown Sacramento in late April. Sal Safi and his family had been running their Elk Grove Greek restaurant for nearly 15 years when Sal decided it was his time to tackle a restaurant venture.
▪ Folsom-based coffee shop and roaster Sociology Coffee is hoping to “bring a new energy” to Placerville’s Main Street when it opens its new location in the former “Tortilla Flats” building at 564 Main St. The new shop’s menu will include street food-inspired offerings alongside classic coffee beverages.
This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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