Owner Geronimo Villa of Don Villa’s Restaurant intends to offer a distinguished taste in food that nobody else has when he opens his restaurant for business at 6 a.m., Monday at 11 Sherwood Boulevard. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
Don Villa’s Restaurant opens for business at 6 a.m., Monday on Sherwood Boulevard in White Rock.
Owner Geronimo Villa named the eatery in honor of his great grandfather Don Geronimo Villa. He was the patriarch of the family and now that position has fallen to Villa. He will serve Northern New Mexico cuisine using his Grandmother Pauline Villa’s recipes. She owned four restaurants including two in Clovis, one in Lubbock, Texas and on in Amarillo, Villa said, adding that she died six years ago.
“My grandmother insisted everything be made fresh,” Villa said during an interview at his restaurant Saturday.”Everything starts with a base whether vegetable, beef or chicken, nothing is ever made with water … my grandmother would kill me.”
He will follow his grandmother’s rule and make everything from scratch at his restaurant from tortillas to tamales to fish tacos. He’ll also jar and distribute his own homemade salsa. Steaks are on the menu and he’ll offer a variety of American dishes.
“I just made an agreement with Smith’s and we’re going to purchase 90 percent of our meat from them,” Villa said. “The other 10 percent will come from Santa Fe for our stews and caldos. My caldos, moles and menudos take hours to cook and my green chili stew is out of this world … we are looking for a distinguished taste that nobody else has.”
Villa was born in Clovis and raised by his grandparents. He moved back and forth to the local area since he was 13 and moved to Albuquerque when he was 19. He worked in the hotel and restaurant business for 27 years and operated three Denny’s Restaurants. He owned a ranch in Coyote until seven years ago when moved to El Rancho where he lives today. He is the father of four grown daughters and has six grandchildren.
“I’ve wanted to own my own restaurant for 15 years. I began working with Roger Waterman and Rich Cramer of TRK and they helped me get a spot for my Don Villa’s burrito stand in the parking lot near Metzgar’s on State Road 4,” Villa said. “I ran it for 103 days in a row until I could find the right help, which I now have and will keep it open. I love the way people treat us at the burrito stand and I want them to follow us here … I look forward to serving them all with good food that is consistent every time.”
He also said he has assembled a strong team at his restaurant including Ester Lucchini who previously owned Creole Nouvelle in Los Alamos and Charlie Bracken who owned CAT’s Café on Trinity Drive.
“I’ve told them, ‘I don’t want you to walk into the restaurant and think you have to go to work … I want you to want to come to work … I want it to be fun,” Villa said. “I’m going to gather all the staff together once a week during the time we are closed for a meal and to talk about how everything is going. I want it to be a fun atmosphere where people want to work and customers want to come to eat.”
Villa doesn’t have a liquor license so won’t be serving alcoholic at the restaurant. He is hosting large parties and said he is marketing for more parties. He plans to announce an official grand opening ceremony in the near future.
Don Villa’s Restaurant at 11 Sherwood Boulevard is open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., six days a week and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 505.927.8885.
Owner Geronimo Villa will continue operating his burrito stand in the parking lot near Metzger’s on N.M. 4 and will have a similar color scheme and sign instaled at his new eatery, Don Villa’s Retaurant at 11 Sherwood Boulevard. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com