Students from the Southwest and everyone else who missed a good burrito can take a deep breath, relax and await the arrival of a new Mexican restaurant 10 minutes from campus. Tio Juan's Margaritas Mexican Restaurant and Watering Hole is scheduled to open this spring in Lebanon.
Margaritas will replace Grenache, an upscale restaurant that closed last September in the Dartmouth-owned Centerra Park. According to Robert Christensen, the property manger for the Dartmouth College Real Estate Office, extensive renovation will be completed before Margaritas can open.
"They're going to be spending a lot of money and almost gutting the place," Christensen said. "If you'd been to Grenache and you enter Margaritas, you won't recognize it."
Margaritas will offer a significantly different atmosphere than the pricy Grenache.
"It's going to be much more of a family-oriented concept that will draw pretty much all of the population. Margaritas will be a better draw for the masses," Christensen said.
Margaritas President and CEO Shawn Joyce hopes to capitalize on the lack of other Mexican restaurants in the area and draw Dartmouth students. Every Wednesday, Margaritas will have a "college night," where students will be able to get two entrees for the price of one.
"We think that the Lebanon/Dartmouth area is a great area, and we're excited about coming there," Joyce said. "You can go out and have a margarita and a burrito and have some fun."
This will be the seventh Margaritas in New Hampshire and the 17th in New England, although Joyce insists that Margaritas is not a chain in the traditional sense.
"All the food is prepared fresh in the morning, and all the decor is authentic; we bring it up from Mexico," Joyce said.
Christensen is optimistic about Margaritas' prospects in the Hanover area.
"They seem to really know what they're doing. They've been successful elsewhere, and they'll be successful here, which is one of the reasons why we wanted them," Christensen said. "That and there aren't exactly many Mexican restaurants up here."
Some students looked forward to the opening of the new restaurant, given the difficulty of finding Mexican food at Dartmouth.
"There isn't any Mexican food around here, and it'd be great to get some good Mexican food at a decent price," Dave Geenberg '05 said.
Other students felt that the location, a 10-minute drive from campus, was too far away.
"There's a Margaritas in my town at home, and it's pretty good, but it's too far away because I don't have a car, so I wouldn't go there," Sarah Hughes '07 said.
Others had more serious concerns about the viability of the restaurant.
"The building that that restaurant is in has changed ownership every two years, so good luck to them," Nina Edelman '05 said.
The restaurant will employ 60 to 70 people and seat 200 customers, following the grand opening targeted for April or May. Margaritas currently has a five-year lease on the building, with the option to extend it in the future.
