|
|
HOW IT ALL STARTED
"Bien Venidos OR Ya Ta Hay"
No matter how you say it, it's all the same.
In any language it means "Hello and Welcome"
to
Casa De Miguel Mexican Restaurant.
It all started back in 1974, when Jay Lewis
and Miguel Montes met through a participation program called
the Sister City. Jay's background has been
building and operating restaurants in Arizona and California
for the past 25 years. Miguel is an industrialist
operating several large factories in Guadalajara, Mexico.
They became good friends and opened the first
Casa De Miguel in 1976. Together, they blended the magic
of Mexico's casualness and the happiness of
its music and the savory taste of its food into the atmosphere
of enjoyment for the public. Their concept
was to create an experience for their customers, to provide them
with an escape from the hectic pace and pressure
of today and to transport them back in to time to an
environment where they can relax and enjoy
the good life.
Jay Lewis and Miguel Montes have gone to great
expense to maintain the authenticity of their Mexican
Restaurants. The doors and windows are hand
carved solid mahogany, made in La Mesa, Mexico. The
hand painted pots and ceramics pieces are
from Tonala, Mexico. The hammered copper pots are from
Santa Clara Cobra, located in the center of
Mexico. The water fountains are hand chipped out of a stone
called Contera. The chairs and most of the
booths come from Colima located on the Mexican Pacific Coast.
The large sunburst are paper mache made in the studios of Sergio
Bustamante. High above the lobby is a
chandler built especially for Miguel's by the Munoz family in Baja,
Four months were spent in handcrafting
this 1400 pound work of art.
Many of the dishes are really a Tex-Mex (Texas-Mexican) background.
In fact, Texas and Mexican cowboys
originated and developed the famous "Bowl Of Chili". Many of us
have grown up believing that the Mexican people survive on tortillas and
beans. NOT TRUE! The
Mexican diet consists of lots of fresh fruit and
seafood, actually more than that of their
North American cousins.