Winning Hearts Through Stomachs

When you hear the word margarita, the first thing that comes to most peoples’ minds is the popular Mexican libation. But Margarita’s restaurant isn’t named after the lime infused, salt-rimmed drink. When Margarita De La Cerda and her husband Jorge opened the restaurant in 2009, it came after years of running other peoples’ restaurants, and for the first time they could name their own business.

“In Mexico, margarita is a flower, like a daisy,” said Margarita De La Cerda. “We didn’t name it after a drink, or necessarily my name, but it happens to be easy for people to say and remember.”

Located inside the Prospector Hotel, Margarita’s has become a cuisine staple of the Ely community ever since it opened its doors. But the loyal following the De La Cerda’s created began well before Margarita’s.

Jorge found his way to Ely in 2000 through a friend of his mother’s, working his first job as a dishwasher at La Fiesta restaurant. But as soon as he started his job, he had concerns.

“My first thought when I arrived in Ely was how am I going to get paid? There are no people here!” said Jorge, having been accustomed to bustling urban life in Guadalajara, Mexico.

But after six months, Jorge liked the job more, especially when Margarita came to Ely and joined him, working at La Fiesta together. After a few years in Ely, Margarita, Jorge and their three children enjoyed the peace, quiet and friendliness of the community, a far cry from the violence and crime of Guadalajara.

Jorge was soon promoted to cook, but with only one week of training and not much kitchen experience. Jorge was in way over his head, but he persevered and figured it out. Although Jorge didn’t have a background in the kitchen, Margarita grew up cooking with her family.

“When I was little my mother put me on the kitchen table and I would help her make food with my own little children’s cooking toys,” said Margarita. “Feeding people has been something I’ve always loved to do, and it’s a Mexican tradition. I think that’s why a lot of our customers have become our friends. They ask if I can make a certain dish, then I do it and bring it to them.”

Although they were relatively new to the Ely community, word of the De La Cerda’s cooking spread, and during a break from working in the restaurant business, Margarita and Jorge were going to peoples’ houses and cooking at parties and other events. During this break from the restaurant business, Jorge was working as a welder when he got a call from the owner of La Cantina restaurant.

La Cantina was struggling as a business, with barely any clientele. Margarita and Jorge were able to negotiate a deal that let them manage the business entirely with their own recipes, and

returned as restauranteurs. As soon as word got around town that Margarita and Jorge had taken over La Cantina, the place was packed.

After a few years running La Cantina, an opportunity came for Margarita and Jorge to open their own restaurant, leasing the building directly from the owner with a $50,000 loan to be paid back in two years. When Margarita’s opened in 2009, just like La Cantina, the place was immediately packed with loyal customers, enabling Margarita and Jorge to pay back the loan in only seven months.

Despite the success of the business, Margarita’s original location a couple miles north of Ely off Highway 93 wasn’t the best. Although the location was great in summertime, the winter proved challenging due to icy roads that people didn’t want to navigate and a large building that was expensive to heat.

“I remember several times our customers eating dinner in their winter coats,” said Margarita.

Thanks to the stellar reputation of Margarita and Jorge, in 2013 another opportunity came to them; moving Margarita’s into the Prospector Hotel. At first the De La Cerdas weren’t sure if it would work, but they gave it a chance, and sure enough, as soon as they opened inside the Prospector, the restaurant was packed once again.

Although Margarita and Jorge were running a successful business, it came at a cost of not knowing the Ely community very well because they were so busy working. They always saw familiar faces at their tables, but they couldn’t remember peoples’ names.

“We would remember people by what they always ordered, like the chicken fajita girl with mild salsa,” said Margarita.

As the business has become more established with a solid staff, the De La Cerdas finally have more time for themselves, attending more community events and seeing their loyal customers outside the restaurant environment.

Over the years, running a business in Ely has been good for the De La Cerdas, including Margarita’s expansion into a breakfast menu, making it like two restaurants in one. Although there are several other Mexican restaurants in Ely these days, the De La Cerdas aren’t concerned about it negatively affecting their business, as their long-time loyal customers still show up.

Along this path of growth, every time the De La Cerdas need something from the city, or the health department, they get support.

“The city is always willing to work with us,” said Jorge. “We’ve definitely made honest mistakes over the years, but people are always there to help us.”

“What I love about the Ely community is they embrace our work and the appreciate how much work we put into our business,” said Margarita. That appreciation comes in the form of hugs from regular customers who’ve become good friends.

Two years ago the Prospector Hotel was sold to new owners. Margarita and Jorge were nervous about what might happen. Would the new owners bring in a new restaurant? But Jorge was reassured after meeting with the new owners that nothing would change.

“The new owners told me they’d been following our business for a while and really liked what we are doing,” said Jorge.

Margarita’s could be part of the reason why the new owners purchased the Prospector, valuing the positive cultural and culinary impact the De La Cerdas have made in the Ely community over the last 25 years.

Disover More Dining in Ely & White Pine County HERE!