A year after opening a restaurant in Jacksonville, the owner of Little Mexico is expanding into the Alton area.
The Mexican-cuisine opened its doors last week, drawing a number of curious patrons.
“It’s very good, outstanding. I enjoyed it,” said one customer who was finishing off a burrito grande. “They do a really good job here.”
Owner Hector Alvarado, who also operates the West Morton Avenue restaurant with the same name, said his intention is to bring people a high quality dining experience while keeping prices modest.
Freshness is a big part of Alvarado’s creed, he says, mentioning how in traditional Mexican family cooking, there is an expectation food will be served the same day it is made.
“All of it is very, very fresh food,” he said. “We make all the food in the morning and we make it fresh. We don’t want to make a large portion and put in it the refrigerator; this is not good enough for my customers. It is much much better fresh, and is very important for my restaurant.”
Creating a rice and bean base for the meal is also important, Alvarado said, and most dishes the restaurant serves are derived from this base.
“The rice is very important,” Alvarado said. “It is the base for many plates, so it is very important to have very good tasting rice and beans.”
About a half dozen jobs were initially created by the restaurant, Alvarado said, and he expects to bring on another half dozen employees when he opens the restaurant’s standalone bar in the immediate future. The business, at Piasa and Ninth streets, received its liquor license Friday and Alvarado said he is excited to put his expertise in tropical cocktails to work, making artful mixtures of fruits, wines and hard liquors.
Alvarado, who picked the location of the restaurant because of the heavy traffic along Piasa Street, said he expects a combination of location, good service and good food to fill the restaurant with people.
