Mexican restaurant in Medina expands business

Photos by Sue Cook – Leonel Rosario (center), one of the business owners, stands with his wife Doloers and Zach McKenna, a chef of two years at Mariachi de Oro. The new addition to the building is behind them.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

MEDINA – For a taste of authentic Mexican food, residents of Western New York flock to Mariachi de Oro Mexican Restaurant in Medina.

The Rosario family opened the restaurant nearly three years ago, and recently put on an expansion because of the popularity of the place.

The Rosarios first came from Mexico to work locally as farm workers. On Sept. 9, 2011, they opened their family restaurant to provide Medina with a taste of their home.

The flavorful recipes served are traditional dishes passed down through generations of the family, said Leonel Rosario, who shares ownership of the business with his brothers Francisco, Danato, Pablo, Sergio and Martin.

“I think that’s why we’ve had a reaction from our customers,” Leonel said during an interview at the restaurant on Route 31A, just east of the Route 63 intersection. “We have some Tex-Mex on the menu, but I’ve always focused more on really authentic traditional food. It’s mostly from Oaxaca where we are from in Mexico. Everything I cook I try to do from scratch. For me, in my heart, I want to make sure it feels good and that I’m really confident that they’re going to like it.”

Mariachi de Oro has been so popular that the business is being expanded. A new addition was added onto the front of the building.

“It looks really good,” said Leonel’s wife Doloers. “It went up really fast.”

The new addition took two half days to complete the exterior. The interior is currently being finished and set up. There will be more seating, two bathrooms, and a bar. The addition is expected to be in use sometime in June. The restaurant will also hire new employees to add to the current staff of eight.

Leonel and his family have decorated the interior of the restaurant festively to reflect their Mexican culture.

The extra seating is vital, especially on weekends, when people drive from outside the county to come eat.

“We have people from Canada coming here and Niagara Falls, Tonawanda, Orchard Park, Le Roy, Williamsville, Lewiston,” Leonel said. “It’s mostly people from Buffalo are that are driving here a lot. That’s one thing that’s keeping us so busy throughout the weekend. Even in wintertime, we have a lot of them.”

“I think they find us on the Internet and read our reviews. They are willing to come try it out and they love us.”

Once the addition is completed, Leonel says the Rosarios plan to remove the old bathroom area and utilize the space for a small stage. He wants to give customers more than just Mexican food.

“I love to cook and to do a good service to my customers, but at the same time I want to do little different things with the restaurant,” said Leonel.

He plans to have mariachi bands, live music, and dancing. Leonel was a Mexican folkloric dancer for almost 10 years. He wants to share the Mexican culture with people in the area and feels this would be a great way to do it.

He says that they are also looking to create outdoor seating at some point with an open porch some time in the future so that customers can enjoy nice weather along with their meals.

Leonel has been very happy with the community’s response to the family business as well as their own success.

“We have really loyal customers,” he said. “I’m starting to get to know some more people and my employees are really good. It’s hard to find the right people, but we’ve been so lucky.”

Leonel added, “We’re trying to bring a little more to the community. I think it will be nice for people to come to Medina and they will get a little bit of Mexico, too.”

For more information and a preview of their menu, visit their website by clicking here.