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Phoenix VA holds Ribbon Cutting for New Vendor

Ribbon cutting at Phoenix VA Veterans Canteen Services
By Tynisha Ferguson, Phoenix VHA Public Affairs Specialist

Phoenix VA had their official grand opening ribbon cutting for “Bliss Healthy Mexican,” a healthy Mexican alternative option for Veterans and employees in the cafeteria, Dec. 4.

“We’re excited to bring this new healthy Mexican concept to Phoenix,” said Fabian Santos, chief of canteen services. "We’ve been working on it for several months and I’m happy to have it come to fruition. We chose this vendor because we’ve been working with them regionally, and they’re doing well in California, so we decided to bring them to Phoenix. We had a soft opening last week and it went very well even with so little advertising. I think we've got a good match here.”

Joe Zeitoun, operations manager for Bliss Healthy Mexican said, “it has been a pleasure working with the VA – from the staff and management to the Veterans. We’re serving Veterans and their serving us.” 

At Bliss Healthy Mexican, Veterans and employees have the option to purchase either a burrito or bowl with chicken, beef, or pork. Burritos come with side of chips and salsa. However, the BRC Burrito comes with beans, rice, and cheese. Pizza is also available for people who want an option other than the Burrito or Bowl.

“The reason our food is called healthy Mexican is because the ingredients are prepared daily and the quality of the food we’re using plus the menu we chose,” said Zeitoun. “For example, you have the option to “have lots of greens, you have the corn, you have the salsa, so those ingredients are healthy.”

Bliss Healthy Mexican started as a smoothie shop on the West Los Angeles College campus, and they’ve been growing ever since. They are a women-owned, minority-owned company that has been with the VA in California for two years, and at UCLA Santa Monica hospital since 2008. This is the first time they have opened a location in Arizona. 

“We decided to work with the VA because after Covid, the hospital operations stayed the most stable and the standards with the hospital are better than other operations,” said Zeitoun.