The first family restaurant of Mexican food in Texas is to open a new restaurant in Las Vegas toward the end of December. The Flores family, who already runs a number of restaurants including Sir Veza’s Taco Garage and several El Charro Cafes, is teaming up with MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in order to open Hecho en Vegas close to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a 10,000-square-foot space. The new restaurant is scheduled to open its doors to the general public for the first time on 28th December. El Charro Cafe is the oldest Mexican restaurant to be family owned in the whole of the United States, having opened 91 years ago back in 1922.
“The Flores family was selected to partner with MGM Grand because they are one of the most respected families in Mexican cuisine and their passion for providing an authentic experience is unmatched,” says the vice-president of food and beverage for MGM Grand, Jason Shkorupa. Carlotta Flores, the Flores family matriarch, notes that the Sonoran flavors of Sir Veza’s and El Charro will be married in Hecho en Vegas, claiming that it will feature the Mexican hot dog with a rich-tasting, chocolatey mole. Carlotta has run the restaurant for more than four decades now, describing the new restaurant as making a move to see all the different foods combined together with the culture and rich history of the Flores family.
Ray Flores, the president of El Charro, says that the menu of the new restaurant will include the legacy dish of El Charro, the chimichanga, together with the popular Carlotta’s chicken mole enchiladas and tamale temptation trio. As well as the Sonoran hot dog, Hecho en Vegas will also be serving Sir Veza’s chopper shrimp skewers. The Flores family’s beef birria, salsa tomatillo and enchilada sauces, all of which will be produced at the USDA-certified Carlotta’s Kitchen in Tucson, will also be joining the mix. Carlotta and Ray Flores pitched the idea of Hecho en Vegas to MGM officials in September when the casino decided to begin looking for a replacement for Diego Mexican Cuisine, which shut its doors that month.
Other restaurants were in the running, according to Ray Flores, and El Charro chefs and staff had to be thoroughly vetted by the MGM team before it was able to narrow down its list of candidates to just three choices. The decision to join with El Charro was made by MGM in late September, and Carlotta Flores notes that she has spent the time since making weekly commutes to Las Vegas in order to prepare for the new restaurant’s opening. The 67-year-old says she intends to continue the commute in order to oversee the restaurant, but insists that she has no intention of making a permanent relocation there. The day-to-day operation will be run by MGM employees, executing Carlotta’s recipes and menu.
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