When
Tijuana's Mexican restaurant opened on the border of Dearborn and Detroit 20 years ago all went smoothly, except for one thing: The printer and sign-maker got the name wrong. Instead of Tia Juana's (Aunt Juana's), the name came out Tijuana's, the Mexican border town.
"Back in the day we didn't have a lot of computers or ways to make this kind of thing easier. They spelled it and printed it wrong. It just stuck… I had everything already printed.
"I've never even been there," owner Marisa Garcia says, laughing. "But the customers seem to like it."
And how.
Garcia, a stay-at-home mom of two young children when she opened the misnamed establishment 20 years ago, is now up to three locations, including the re-opening last week in the original site at 18950 Ford Road, near Southfield and Evergreen.
Garcia closed the location six years ago and moved to Lincoln Park. She later opened an express takeout version in Southgate. "The customers that followed us kept asking us to come back," Garcia says.
In the meantime the old location and original home was taken over by a new tenant. The owner renovated. The space was bigger, the parking was better and finally Garcia could tell her customers that she was coming back.
With her would come the fresh made salsas, handmade tamales and tortillas and sauces. And room for more customers, 120-130. The restaurant also has a bar and a liquor license pending.
The new, old location opened April 26th and led to 10 full-time jobs, says Garcia, who runs the restaurants with her husband, son, daughter and son-in-law.
Source: Marisa Garcia, owner, Tijuana's Mexican restaurant.
Writer: Kim North Shine
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