Mom and daughter open restaurant together

(Sentinel photo by Magdalene Landegent) Nancy Anguiano, her mom Margarita Garcia, and a family friend Lucy Perez are already serving up flavorful Mexican meals at the newly opened restaurant Adrian's in downtown Le Mars. The mother-daughter pair has been dreaming about this idea for quite a while. [Click to enlarge]

"We wanted to open a restaurant a while ago, but we didn't have the opportunity to do it," said Nancy Anguiano, sitting at a table with her mom Margarita Garcia at Adrian's Mexican Restaurant after opening day last week.

On the weekends, they used to sell tamales, menudo (a Mexican soup) and homemade tortillas to friends.

"And we both worked as waitresses," Anguiano, a junior at Le Mars Community School, said.

She used to work at the restaurant that formerly was open in the same location.

"After I heard they were closing, since we knew the landlord, we talked to him, and he said he would rent it to us," Anguiano said.

The landlord also updated the building before the new restaurant opened.

"He did a lot of good work," Anguiano said.

The mother and daughter duo said the restaurant will feature Mexican food -- tacos, gorditas and the like -- which can be prepared fast.

"That way people who are hungry can get their food right away," Anguiano said. "But we'll also have dinners in the afternoon for people who want to relax."

One of their specials is the torta -- a meat sandwich made with thick Mexican bread.

"We're also going to have a special recipe chicken -- it's a family recipe," Anguiano said.

That won't be available quite yet. Garcia said in about a month it will be on the menu

All of their food, Garcia and Anguiano said, has a homemade flavor.

"It's something fresh," Anguiano added. "Not a fast food taste."

The recipes are Garcia's and also from family friend Lucy Perez, who has more restaurant experience, Anguiano added.

While Anguiano and her mom will be the restaurant's core, the whole family is helping.

"There are eight of us," Anguiano said.

And the restaurant gets its name after her 1 1/2 year old son, Adrian.

"My mom decided to use a picture of him on our sign," Anguiano laughed. "He's our model."

For Garcia, the Le Mars restaurant is only the beginning of her professional culinary adventure. Last month she purchased a restaurant in Mexico from a relative.

"Hopefully we'll be going down to check it out and make some modifications," Anguiano said.

The mother and daughter are both excited to serve up steaming plates of tacos, burritos, tortas, and more.

"It's just to share our food," Anguiano said. "We want to have others get to know it. We hope to make people happy with our food."