12/31/2009 10:39:00 PM Duo brings authentic Mexican food to Whiskey Row
Jason Soifer/The Daily Courier
Anna Maria Garcia, sitting, and her daughter, Carolina Garcia, opened Annalina's Authentic Mexican Food on Whiskey Row five years ago this month.
Q & A with Anna Maria Garcia and her daughter, Carolina Garcia, owners of Annalina's Authentic Mexican Food on Whiskey Row at 126 S. Montezuma St. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. 776-1277.
Q: How did you get into the restaurant business?
Anna Maria Garcia: "I used to run a Mexican restaurant when my kids were little in Ventura, Calif., in the 1990s. From Ventura we moved to Las Vegas. We first came here on vacation in 2003.
"The next year we decided to move here and open a business. We took this spot over in 2004 and turned it into a Mexican restaurant."
Carolina Garcia: "Most people remember it as The Dog House."
Q: What service do you provide in the community?
AMG: "Our food is authentic Jalisco, Mexican-style food. Everything is fresh, and we don't use additives."
CG: "Everything we make is from scratch. We make everything from tacos and burritos to chili rellenos and menudo."
Q: What's the best business advice you've given and received?
AMG: "When you do a business, you have to do something you really like because you have to put a lot of time into it."
CG: "Before you do anything, do your research."
Q: What's the key to your business longevity?
CG: "We're celebrating our fifth anniversary later this month, and I think the key is consistency, constantly having good food and service."
AMG: "We serve what we would eat."
Q: How are you rolling with the economy?
CG: "It has not been easy. We try to switch our specials up a lot, smart buying of our ingredients and being careful with our employees' hours."
Q: What's something unique about you?
AMG: "I have 13 brothers and sisters."
CG: "My Mexican culture influences me more than my American culture."
Q: How many hours a week do you work?
AMG: "Carolina works more than me. I work about 60 hours a week."
CG: "Probably 70 to 80 hours a week."
Q: If you could take a week away, what would you do?
AMG: "I would visit family in California and friends in Texas."
CG: "I would definitely travel. I'd love to go to Mexico and Europe or to California to visit family."
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, January 02, 2010
Article comment by:
lol...So many stupid people in Yavapai County
SENCE, It's a shoe!!! LOL
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Posted: Saturday, January 02, 2010
Article comment by:
Just wondering
What is "sence?"
Posted: Saturday, January 02, 2010
Article comment by:
calm down
To Family of 5:
Maybe you could have the "sence" to think the folks at the restaurant were just having a bad day. It happens to the best of us. Not everyone is going to have a good experience every single time. Be a little charitable, hmmm? It's not the end of the world.
Posted: Friday, January 01, 2010
Article comment by:
Family of 5
My family and I ate there once. only once and will never go again. They are over priced for the portions you get. They owners daughter who was working that day walked by 3 times and looked at all our empty cups and kept walking. I had to get up and get our own refills. Also, we have 5 people in our family and they added a gratuity automatically. So not only did we get small portions, no refills and horrible service from one of the owners, we had to tip them on top of it. Disgusting business sence in my eyes.
Posted: Friday, January 01, 2010
Article comment by:
azlaydey
For those of you who haven't tried this little restaurant, the food is the "real thing"!Delicioso!
