Viva Texas! That could be the slogan of the new Texas-style Mexican restaurant, Pasión Comida Mexicana, in Orcutt’s Old Town. From the rolling green hills in the background to the historic cowboy-town style of its architecture to the restaurant’s décor of carved wooden chairs and tables complete with horse motifs, patrons couldn’t be blamed if they thought they’d fallen through space and time and ended up in the Lone Star State. Having only opened a week and a half ago as of this printing, the restaurant already looks like an established local hotspot. If the dedication of the owners and their employees is any indication, great success is likely to follow.
Cynthia and Gabriel Segura had long dreamed of opening a restaurant based on the Mexican food they’ve always loved, but until recently it hadn’t been a good time to start such a demanding project.
“We’ve been wanting to open [a restaurant] for many years, but we had kids and I was a stay-at-home mom for quite a while, so we just put it off on the back burner until our youngest was a senior in high school,” Cynthia said.
Family has been central not only in the lives of the owners, but also in starting their new venture. Now that her children are grown, Cynthia has been able to enlist their help.
“My daughter went to school and majored in psychology, and so she did a lot of the interviewing [for employees],” she said.
Segura knows, however, that the most important aspect of any restaurant is the food. It has to taste good, and the owner has to like it first.
“We enjoy eating; that’s it,” she said. “We have been many places, traveled and sampled, and just knew what we wanted.”
Both owners have also taken advantage of their roots in Texas to spice up the menu: “[My husband’s] family is from Brownsville, Texas, and mine is from San Antonio, Texas, and so we got a collaboration,” Cynthia said.
Unlike some Mexican restaurants that cater to customers with blander palettes, Cynthia chose to aim for the culinary wild side.
“We eat with spices at home, hot sauces and stuff,” she explained. “We wanted to bring that into the restaurant. We didn’t want anything bland. And we just took a chance, saying this is what we eat, and I’m hoping that the public would also enjoy it. I didn’t want to serve anything that I didn’t believe in and that’s where the passion, the name Pasión, comes in. We eat with a passion.”
After food, the atmosphere is the second most important aspect of any good restaurant. The Texan warmth that emanates from the wood furniture, leather, and rich color choices is a good start. It’s supported by the Seguras’ attempt to recreate the feeling of eating at home with family.
“I’m used to when we’re in the kitchen at home, we’re at the dining table,” Cynthia said. “My mom makes the tacos, and they hand it to you right there. I wanted that home type of feeling, so that’s why we made the taco bar, so you can just order from the guy at the grill, whoever is cooking right there, and it doesn’t have to go far.”
The Seguras’ focus on the food and atmosphere is paying off, since she can recall only one slow day surrounded by overcapacity days so far.
Even with their hearts in the right place, the hours involved in running a new restaurant would easily discourage many.
“We’re getting home at 11 o’clock, and I get here at 8 o’clock in the morning,” Cynthia said. “There’s a lot more involvement than you know, than meets the eye.”
But successful restaurant owners have to have an attitude like hers.
“When the customers pay, that’s the frosting on the cake, because I feel as if I have already been paid by their compliments,” Cynthia noted. “That’s pretty good. That makes me happy.”
Pasión Comida Mexicana is at 165 W. Clark Ave. in Orcutt. It’s open seven days a week for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for dinner from 4 to 9 p.m. For more information or to make a reservation, call 314-2191.
Biz Spotlight is written by Intern Frank Gonzales. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Dec 20-27, 2012.