Family Opens New Restaurant in Old Town Pinole

The combination of a family friend's catering business, a parental loan and determination has blended into Pinole's latest venture in downtown dining.

La Esmeralda is a new Mexican restaurant that recently has opened at San Pablo Avenue and Pinole Valley Road, and the owner is a 21-year-old student with her sights set on a career as a probation officer.

Marisol Duenas has taken on the challenge of operating a restaurant with the help of a sister, two cousins and two friends. Her father, Mario, has owned a pallet company in Richmond for about 20 years. A family friend, Salvador Ceja, has been running a taco catering business, which the Duenases agreed to expand into a brick-and-mortar presence in Old Town Pinole.

Marisol continues to work as a bookkeeper for her father's business and has been studying at Contra Costa College in San Pablo. She plans to pursue a degree in criminal justice at UC Davis or UC Berkeley in the fall of 2013. In the meantime, she has started the restaurant with the staff of relatives, the catering friend and a second chef.

Her sister, Jennifer, two cousins and two chefs help run the day-to-day affairs. She plans to keep working and studying for the near future, despite what seems like overwhelming responsibilities.

"It does scare me a little because I still do the books for my dad's business," Marisol said. "It is a lot of responsibility, but with the other managers here, I have time to do other things like my dad's business and re-stock for the restaurant."

One challenge in getting started was converting what used to be Amazing Cuisine, a Filippino restaurant, from scratch. A loan from her parents paid for all new equipment, except for refrigerators bought from the previous owners. But she didn't want to miss the opportunity when it arose.

"The permits were pretty easy but we had to do a lot of work to do inside," Marisol said. "When it came up I wasn't going to let it go, but I'm still pursuing my career."

The food is authentic, derived from traditions in the states of Jalisco and Michoacan in Mexico. Her father insisted as a condition of the verbal contract for the start-up loan, that the restaurant be named La Esmeralda in a nod to the nickname for his former hometown. The word translates to "the emerald" in English.

"It's kind of hidden in the mountains, in the Sierra, so they call it the hidden jewel and so my dad told me, 'You have to name it that,'" she said.

The family looked around before deciding to launch the venture in Pinole.

"We chose this location because Pinole is, I think, a pretty peaceful city," Marisol said "The location is an avenue of course, and also because we were looking for a small place and this place pretty much had the qualifications we were looking for."

The menu offers traditional tacos, burritos, soups, enchiladas, nachos and will adapt with time, Marisol said. Breakfast fare is available on weekends and specialty items like menudo could be added later.

The restaurant has been open less than two weeks but the customer base and loyalty are growing.

"We started off with zero clients, but more people are getting to know us, and certain clients they've come in every day for lunch," Marisol said.

For now, the restaurant is closed on Mondays and open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

"I'd like people to know that this is a family-run business and it is authentic Mexican food," Marisol said.