A special brand of hospitality

Restaurant offers patrons a friendly environment and good food

By Jessica Farrish

Jose Rizo likes southern West Virginia, and he knows that everyone needs a place in their neighborhood where they can relax and enjoy friends and food.

Rizo opened El Mariachi in Beaver to bring his family’s special brand of hospitality to those in the Beckley, Daniels and Shady Spring areas.

“I’m all about pleasing the customers and making sure they enjoy themselves,” said Rizo, 29. “It’s my family business.

At El Mariachi, the decor is warm and inviting. The walls are painted in sun-drenched effects of orange and yellow. Framed artwork of different desert and Mexican scenes adorn the walls. Comfortable booths and tables offer relaxed seating arrangements and lively Mexican music plays in the dining area.

If the wait staff seem friendly with each other, that’s because they are. Rizo said friends and family members work in the restaurant.

Rizo’s uncle, also named Jose Rizo, is his partner at El Mariachi.

The younger Rizo, a 1998 graduate of Oak Hill High School, said his goal is for El Mariachi to be the neighborhood restaurant that welcomes guests, giving them delicious, freshly prepared food, a warm, relaxing environment and a place for families and business associates to meet for lunch or dinner.

“It’s part of my culture, something I’m familiar with,” he added. “I’ve been doing this since I was 13 years old.”

Rizo’s father is an owner and kitchen manager of Rio Grande in Oak Hill. Rizo spent much of his childhood in Oak Hill.

As a teenager, Rizo worked in the kitchen alongside his dad and at the Rio Grande in Beckley until he branched off into his own line of restaurants.

Establishing El Mariachi restaurants in Parkersburg and in Tazewell and Richlands, Va., Rizo returned to southern West Virginia to open the El Mariachi in Beaver in April.

“I’m back in the area where I got my start,” he said.

The food at El Mariachi is fabulous, Rizo promises. Prepared fresh daily, traditional Mexican dishes including tamales, tacos, rellenos and enchiladas will be familiar to fans of Mexican cuisine.

El Mariachi also offers specialty items that don’t appear in every Mexican restaurant.

One popular specialty dish is the Pina Fajita — a pineapple half-stuffed with grilled and seasoned chicken, peppers and onions.

The pineapple is scooped out of its rind, grilled with the chicken, then placed back inside for a delicious entree, said Rizo.

Another special fajita is the Hawaiian, a dish of seasoned chicken, onions, bell peppers, fresh pineapple and ham that is served with rice, beans, salad and tortillas.

Seafood lovers have a generous selection from the menu, too, Rizo said.

Fish tacos, limon tilapia (fillets blackened with a blend of spices), tilapia ahogada (seasoned fillets smothered in a special blend of shrimp and cream of mushroom sauce), and shrimp chimichanga are among the seafood offerings.

Rizo said he’s excited about the special frozen strawberry margherita pie served at El Mariachi.

The pie features frozen strawberry yogurt in a graham cracker crust, topped with frozen whipped topping and lime zest and drizzled with fresh strawberries and syrup.

“It’s fresh, frozen and limey,” he said. “They’re new, and they’ve been doing really well.”

The towering chocolate cake — layer upon layer of dense chocolate cake, lavished with chocolate mousse and slathered with chocolate frosting and hand-placed, dark chocolate curls — is also a crowd pleaser, said Rizo.

One more popular dessert is the brownie sombrero, a brownie topped by ice cream under a chocolate shell and enveloped by creamy caramel.

The menu is mainly Mexican, but Rizo pointed out that El Mariachi also offers vegetarian dishes, 12-ounce T-bone steaks, skewered shrimp, cheeseburgers, steak and chicken sandwiches, grilled chicken salads, and french fries.

Upstairs, Rizo said, the Tiki-style, Mexican cantina offers legal beverages, including margaritas, big-screen TVs and sometimes hosts live bands.

Rizo said he chose an island, nautical theme with a beach mural on one wall and a Tiki hut in order to create a tropical feel in the cantina.

“When the people are there, I want them to feel like they are in Mexico, somewhere tropical,” he said. “I want to provide an escape with good food and margaritas.

“This is a place they can meet for drinks and food,” he added.

El Mariachi’s hours are Monday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturdays noon to 10:30 p.m. and Sundays noon to 9 p.m.

The bar is open later than the restaurant on weekends.

— E-mail: jfarrish@register-herald.com

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