The other day, Michelle and I went to have lunch to celebrate a recent business milestone. We were wanting to try out a new place, and we settled on a restaurant in San Marcos that I’d driven by, but never stopped at.

It was a Tex-Mex restaurant in with some really interesting decor:

I really liked this fountain

I also liked this little “Juan Valdez” looking dude

The inside of the place was really neat also

I specially liked the painted stairs leading up to the balcony:

Anyway, we’re seated and get our menu, and all the plates have names like “Yvonne’s Quesadillas” or “Brittney’s Nachos” which makes us think that something is not quite right. Our server, was a college aged man named Brad.

Then we notice the owners.

The owner’s of the restaurant, are three Asian sisters. Yvonne, Brittney and the other lady who’s name escapes me.

The whole endeavor begs the question: Who says only Mexicans can own and run Tex-Mex restaurants?

For the record, the food was good.

A little more salt would’ve been more to my taste, but all in all the food was good. The ambiance, was good also. They had some salsa and merengue music playing in the back ground at just the right volume. It was a very enjoyable experience. The only mark against the restaurant, was that our server didn’t try to sell us a desert, but that’s probably more a mark against him than it is a mark against the restaurant.

What do you think?

Do you think it’s exploitive for non-Mexicans to own a Tex-Mex restaurant and to decorate it in such a fashion? Would it be exploitive for non-Asians to open an Asian restaurant and decorate it appropriately?

For the record, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.

It’s a business, that caters to a specific market and therefore has to look a certain way. I do not in any way, shape or form feel like they were being exploitive at all. If anything, I commend them for having the restaurant in the first place. I’d love to get a look at their customer profile and see who they connect with.