Fabulosos Mariscos a la Antigua
The new servers are ready for work at Fabulosos Mariscos a la Antigua
By Jorge Rennella.
Tulsa, Oklahoma has a large Mexican population. It now also has the new Mexican restaurant Fabulosos Mariscos a la Antigua, an extension of a group of Mexican businesses from enterprising businessman Jose Luis Contreras.
Contreras, born in Jalisco, Mexico and better known as "el Fabuloso Contreras," is the administrator, co-owner and chef of this new restaurant. Contreras is joined by a dozen employees.
Tulsa Gives the Permits in 2 Weeks
“Starting the restaurant here in Tulsa was quite convenient, easy, and fast,” Contreras says. “The authorities collaborate in everything. To open a restaurant in Chicago took us almost a year. Just getting the permits in Chicago took more than three months, while in Tulsa it was only two weeks, and in two months we were open. We even have beer permits, which in Chicago we still do not have.”
Contreras, like most of the great Mexican chefs, was trained from the bottom up, with sacrifice, hard work, entrepreneurial attitude and business vision.
"My first job was at age 18 at a seafood restaurant in Nayarit, Mexico," he says. "At 24 I emigrated to the United States. I always worked in restaurants. I was learning, taking new positions and responsibilities in my jobs. Some contacts from my previous jobs invited me to work in Chicago. After two years, having started at Chicago's el Veneno Restaurant, I became the chef there."
Ten New Restaurants Created
"I was born in Jalisco, but having lived and learned the art of cooking in Nayarit, I feel I belong more to this famous Riviera of Nayarit,” Contreras says. “In my history as a chef I have run ten restaurants," he says. "I've been working in the kitchen for 24 years. I have opened many restaurants; I sell my services; I help them open a new restaurant, build the menus, train the staff and run the restaurant until it is solid. Now, I'm also the owner in partnership with Juan Alvarado of this new restaurant. "
Although it is located in a Latin district, the new restaurant also receives Anglo and African-American visitors. "80 percent of the clientele is divided among Latinos in Central and South America, most of them Mexican. Five percent of African-Americans and 15 percent of Anglos come to visit us, to eat and have fun. On Saturdays and Sundays we have live Mexican music, with musical groups and even mariachis," he says.
Jorge Rennella is part of of the team that creates el Restaurante magazine. You can reach him at jorge@restmex.com