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El Tequila: Old home Mexican flavor
Published 12:00pm Wednesday, July 22, 2009El Tequila Mexican Restaurant is scheduled to open in two to three weeks, its owners said Tuesday.
Located in the former Speedway building, El Tequila is the second of two restaurants owned by Pedro Unzueta and his brother-in-law, Sergio Barajas. The pair opened a restaurant by the same name in Baxter, Minn., in October 2008 and acquired the Fergus Falls property earlier this summer.
Both men were out at the restaurant Tuesday, where custom-made booths and chairs from Mexico had recently arrived by truck. Work on the building, which included the painting of the interior and the exterior, began about a month ago, Unzueta said.
Unzueta grew up in Florida and has spent nearly 16 years working in Mexican restaurants in his home state and in Alabama. He collected recipes along the way for the day he opened his own place.
Competition among Mexican restaurants is especially stiff in the southern U.S., so Unzueta looked north. After El Tequila’s successful start in Baxter, Unzueta and Barajas began looking for other Minnesota communities that fit their desired demographics. Fergus Falls was a good fit, despite the fact it is already home to another Mexican restaurant, Don Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant.
“I think we have people for both businesses,” Unzueta said.
Unzueta said he expects the Fergus Falls location will employ about 20 people. He’s already received several applications from former employees of Speedway. Unzueta is planning to move to Fergus Falls, while his brother-in-law will stay in Baxter.
The restaurant’s menu includes lunches, dinners, appetizers, seafood, vegetarian dishes and salads. Desserts include flan (vanilla Mexican custard), sopapillas (fried flour tortillas with honey, cinnamon and chocolate syrup) and xangos (creamy cheesecake wrapped in a pastry tortilla, fried and dusted with cinnamon and sugar).
Menu prices range from $3 to $4 for a salad to $6 lunch specials to dinners costing $8 to $12. A list of 30 combination options, mixing choices like burritos, tacos and enchiladas, are $8 or $8.50.
