Let's Eat
By STEVE PRISAMENT
Staff Writer
April 09, 2008
Mexico Restaurant expands across the border to La Hacienda
 La Hacienda manager Diana Villa, second from left, poses at the restaurant with her uncle Miguel Vazquez, left, father Marcos Villa, and hostess Tonya Arlington of Galloway Township.
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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – Yolanda and Marcos Villa have owned Mexico
Restaurant and Bar in Atlantic City for 13 years, and late last year they opened
a second, larger restaurant here on Route 9.
“They’ve been looking to partner up with someone for a bigger restaurant for two
years,” said their daughter Diana Villa, manager of the new place – La Hacienda.
“We took the same exact recipes. We added a few plates, took a few plates out …
kept the favorites.”
Their partners are Yolanda’s sister Maria Vazquez and her husband, Miguel.
The Vazquez family relocated from Los Angeles, where they also owned a
restaurant that they sold to a third sister.
Both families live in Egg Harbor Township.
“I’ve been around the restaurant since I was 11 – dishwashing, busing,
waitressing, bartending and managing,” Diana Villa, 23, said Sunday, March 30.
“I do everything. I do the menu design, the logos. I do anything with graphics.”
A computer hotshot, she graduated from a five-year architecture program at
Temple University after graduating from Egg Harbor Township High School.
“It helps you out with a lot of things,” she said of her field of study. “Buying
a house. It has a creative aspect. I wanted to do a lot of things.”
But the design of the new restaurant was handled by her mother and aunt.
“My aunt and my mom decided on colors and decorations and all that stuff,” Villa
said. “They painted it with my father and my uncle. I was too busy doing the
computer stuff and interviewing people to work here.”
Villa said she speaks English better than the rest of her family.
“They came from Mexico,” she said. “They didn’t speak much English at all at
first. I was 2 years old, so I’m really American. I don’t have an accent.”
Marcos Villa said that when he moved north into California, he worked in
construction, getting into the restaurant business in 1995, when he and his wife
moved to New Jersey and opened Mexico Restaurant and Bar.
What the couple lacked in experience, they made up for with knowledge and
tradition, bringing family recipes that dated back generations.
“They were authentic,” Diana Villa said. “Our cooks are from Mexico too. They
bring in home recipes to try. One of our cooks went to culinary school in
Mexico. He makes his own fried ice cream from scratch.”
Most of what you find at Mexico and La Hacienda is homemade there.
“Every sauce and salsa is made from scratch,” Villa said. “Jalapenos and vinegar
are the only things that are canned. It’s all made fresh daily. We’re constantly
tasting to ensure that the sauces are not too spicy. We can adjust anything to
our customers’ liking.”
Customers not accustomed to authentic Mexican cuisine should read the menu
carefully to avoid surprises, she said.
“Our burritos are not like those people usually find,” Villa said. “We’re not
used to putting lettuce, tomatoes and onions – they just come with meat, refried
beans and the cheese.”
Tacos are also authentic.
“We use soft tortillas with meat, cilantro and onions,” she said. “We don’t do
ground beef. We’d rather do strips of beef.”
Villa said the Tres Amigos Combination is one of their favorite menu items. For
$20.99, a customer gets a choice of three entrees with rice and refried beans.
“They choose between burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas, enchiladas, flautas,
sopes, tacos and tamales,” she said. “That way they get to try some of
everything.”
According to Villa, a lot of the La Hacienda’s customers have come from their
Atlantic City restaurant.
“It’s a steady climb,” she said. “We’re still working on advertising. There are
a lot of Mexican restaurants in Atlantic City. There are only two offshore – in
Pleasantville.”
She said she also has a really good bartender – Jody Munoz.
“Everybody knows Jody,” Villa said. “She worked at the Gypsy Bar at Borgata when
it opened. Before that she worked eight years at Mexico. Now, we have her again.
A lot of our customers know Jody from Mexico.”
La Hacienda has a square bar that seats 36, with eight TVs.
“We specialize a lot in tequila,” Villa said. “It ranges from $6 for a shot to
$40 for a shot. Don Julio Real is $40. It’s really, really pure. We have three
types of Patron. One is crystal clear – $25 a shot.”
Birthdays are always fun at La Hacienda, Villa said.
“We give away free sombreros on your birthday and a free shot of house tequila,”
she said. “For kids, we have flan.”
To comment on this story email
steve.prisament@catamaranmedia.com.
If You Go:
La Hacienda
265 S. New York Road (Route 9)
Galloway Township
(609) 652-6050
Kitchen open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Happy hour is 4 to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday
Margaritas are $5 all day Monday
Credit cards accepted
Gift cards available
Customer favorites
Chorizo Con Queso ($8.99) Chorizo sausage mixed with melted cheese dip.
Nachos Grandes ($8.99, family size $13.99) Corn tortillas served with melted
cheese and topped with beans, sour cream, guacamole, jalapenos and chicken
breast.
Crema de Cangrejo ($7.50) Cream of crab bisque prepared with fresh
mushrooms, artichokes and crabmeat.
Taco Salad ($10.99) Crispy tortilla bowl filled with fresh romaine lettuce,
diced tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and cheese topped with crispy corn
tortilla strips and grilled chicken breast.
Chile Relleno de Queso ($18.99) A Poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, fried
in a light, fluffy egg batter topped with a sweet Mexican sauce containing
raisins and plantain bananas.
Enchiladas Verdes o Rojas ($16.99) Three corn tortillas rolled with chicken
and dipped in choice of mole or green salsa.
Quesadillas de Pollo ($17.99) Three flour tortillas filled with melted
cheese and chicken sautéed in a pepper and onion sauce.
Chimichangas ($17.99) Three deep fried flour tortillas filled with melted
cheese and chicken sautéed in a pepper and onion sauce.
Burrito Mexicano ($17.99) Flour tortilla filled with your choice of beef or
chicken, melted cheese and refried beans. Served with sour cream, guacamole
and refried beans.
Carne Azada ($18.99) Thin slice of grilled beef steak served with rice,
refried beans and a sope.
Empapelado de Mariscos ($19.99) Small tilapia fillets, shrimp and scallops
prepared in a bag and cooked with a cream of mushroom sauce, onions,
tomatoes and peppers. Camarones Acapulco ($20.99) Five large shrimp served
with ranchera sauce and melted cheese.
Camarones Cancun ($20.99) Five large shrimp sautéed in lemon, cilantro,
butter and wine sauce.