Mexican mojo – El Jimador capitalizes on success, opens second location at The Weirs

By ADAM DRAPCHO, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — The recipe for success in the restaurant industry is no secret. Serve dependably good food at a fair price, and patrons will return. Add to that equation a multiplier if the food you're serving is the only of its kind in the area, and it's easy to see why El Jimador, opened five years ago on Daniel Webster Highway in Belmont, has done so well.

The family that owns and operates El Jimador opened a second location, in The Weirs, during Laconia Motorcycle Week. With the same menu, and the same management, owners are hoping to replicate their successful formula in a second location.

Ricardo Fonseca, a partner in the business, said he and the other owners were initially looking to open a second location and decided on the storefront in the Weirs after failing to find a suitable location in Meredith. The second El Jimador is located at 36 Endicott Street East, in the Alpen Rose plaza, which also houses the Weirs Post Office. And, good news for those who enjoy a frozen Margarita even when it's freezing out, the new El Jimador will be open year-round, though many of its neighboring businesses are open only seasonally.

"We feel like, even in the winter time, you might be struggling for a month, two months of the year, but everyone's got to eat, everyone wants to have a few drinks," said Fonseca.

Fonseca, who is from a small town outside of Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved to Atlanta when he was seven years old, ran his own restaurant in Michigan for four years. However, partly due to the economy of the town, located 20 minutes outside of Detroit, he closed the restaurant and joined his cousin, Yesenia Arellano, in Belmont.

El Jimador, said Fonseca, serves authentic Mexican food, occasionally "with a twist" to accommodate desires of the local diners. For examples, tacos can be ordered with hard shells, which Americans enjoy but which wouldn't be served south of the border. Those who are looking for traditional Mexican cuisine will find what they're looking for on the El Jimador menu, Fonseca insists.

As examples, he listed the several different sauces that are prepared in-house for various dishes. The signature item on the menu is "El Molcajete," a dish with two kinds of chiles, rib-eye steak, chicken, shrimp, chorizo sausage and cheese, cooked with cactus and served in a sizzling volcanic stone bowl. And then there's one of the most popular items on the menu, "Carnitas," a pork dish with authentic preparation.

"Anyone who doubts that we're authentic, try our carnitas," said Fonseca.

The Weirs location is slightly smaller than the Belmont store. At the new restaurant, which has been treated to a two-and-a-half month renovation, can fit up to 100 on the ground floor, and 65 more in the second floor bar. The separate bar space, with its own entrance was one of the reasons why the space was attractive, said Fonseca, and was where much of the renovation efforts were directed.

Fonseca said he expects to have more of a bar crowd at the Weirs location than in Belmont. In addition to mixed drinks, renovations to the bar included the addition of several beer taps.

"We wanted to add more beers here," he said. Mexican beers are available on tap, such as Dos Equis and Modelo Especial, as well as local microbreweries such as 603, Tuckerman's and Woodstock. Despite the attention paid toward the bar, Fonseca doesn't expect El Jimador to just a watering hole. Even in the bar, where the full menu will be available, he expects patrons will order food to go along with their beverages.

"What makes us strong is the food," Fonseca said, crediting head chef Jesús Medina, who has worked at El Jimador since it opened, for ensuring that what goes out of the kitchen is good, consistently. Juan Fonseca, assistant manager and bartender, applies the same level of care to beverages that complement the food.

While there may be some weeks during the winter that are a little slow, Fonseca noted that the only competition for Mexican food is the family's Belmont restaurant. Rather than stealing customers from their other business, he expects the additional location to raise the El Jimador profile and attract more fans of their food.

"I think we're just going to grow bigger," he said.

The El Jimador location in The Weirs is open for lunch and dinner can be reached at 527-8365.

Juan Fonseca, Ricardo Fonseca, Jesús and Yolanda Medina welcome patrons to the second location of El Jimador., in the Alpen Rose plaza in The Weirs. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)