photo by Steve VanGunda

El Ranchero waiter Luciano Covarrubias paints a mural on the inside of El Ranchero Mexican restaurant Thursday morning. The staff put the finishing touches on the restaurant in preparation for Saturday’s opening.

Lone Mexican restaurant open in Vidalia

By Jennifer Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Monday, June 30, 2008

VIDALIA — After eight months of work and anticipation, Vidalia now has a Mexican restaurant to visit.

El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant opened its doors Saturday.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. on Friday through Sunday.

The restaurant, the only one of its kind in Vidalia, was the brainchild of Jesus Martinez of Natchez. Martinez said that being the only Mexican restaurant will be nice but knows that that might not always be the case.

“Someone else might move in to Vidalia,” Martinez said. “We want to bring more business to Vidalia. We want Vidalia to grow.”

Though the restaurant may be the only Mexican restaurant in Vidalia, the owners aren’t new to the business.

Martinez, along with his brothers Lorenzo, Jesse and John, own several different restaurants including El Potro in Natchez.

They have worked as a family in the restaurant business since 1990 when they opened their first restaurant in Moultrie, Ga.

“I like working with my brothers,” Martinez said. “We have good communication.”

Good communication skills come in handy for the Martinez family since all decisions about restaurants are made as a group.

Those decisions include the decision to open a restaurant.

“The idea to open the restaurant was mine but I had to talk to them, Martinez said. “They said ‘Not a problem. We can do it.’”

Once the Martinezes decided to open a new restaurant, the planning and construction started.

The lot that is now home to El Ranchero, located on Carter Street in Vidalia near Vidalia Market, was vacant when construction started. It is now home to the new brightly colored building.

“We had to move the grass and start from the bottom,” Martinez said. “Everything is brand new.”

The process went fairly smoothly. Martinez attributed that to experience.

“It was easy. Because we already have experience,” Martinez said. “We didn’t have any problems along the way.”

No problems stood in the way of getting the doors open but Martinez said construction took longer then he expected.

But it was worth the wait according to Martinez.

“The taste of the food and the service make us better,” he said.

He said the seasoning of the food makes the biggest difference.

The variety of food will also set El Ranchero apart from other Mexican restaurants, he said

“Our menu is going to have a lot of different choices on it,” Martinez said. “We are going to have a different special every day, too.”

As excited as Martinez is to get El Ranchero open, he said the area residents were just as ready for the doors to unlock.

“They are ready for me to open,” Martinez said. “They are happy we are here.”