Herreras make a go of it in Nyssa
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Monday, August 18, 2008 10:30 AM PDT
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| Larry Meyer | Argus Observer
Fredi Herrera (second from right) Ezequiel Herrera (far left) and uncles Eduardo Altamirano Estrada (second from left) and Mauro Raygosa stand in the kitchen of El Rancho Grande Restaurant in Nyssa. |
NYSSA—Fredi Herrera, 22, Nyssa, has owned El Rancho Grande Restaurant, 113 Main St., in Nyssa for about a month now, and he said he is already enjoying some of the benefits of being a business owner and his own boss.
To a point.
Herrera employs some of his family members in his new venture which means he is and isn’t the boss.
“They boss me around and tell me what to do,” he said.
Herrera said he has been in Nyssa for 16 years after moving to the area from Yakima, Wash.
“We did construction, me and my dad, framing and concrete. We did everything,” he said.
Then, earlier this year, the owner of Yadira’s Restaurant, mentioned to Herrera and his family that he wanted to sell because he wished to spend more time with his daughter who is ill.
Herrera and his family jumped at the opportunity and it has become a family business.
“Construction started getting pretty slow,” he said.
Herrera said he will learn to cook, but did not have to cook when taking over the restaurant.
“My two uncles are the cooks,” he said. One has cooked at the restaurant eight years and the other three to four years.
“I just help with washing dishes,” Herrera said, adding he also chops vegetable and meat. “I go buy groceries. Besides his uncles, Herrera is joined by his mother, and a sister, who works in Nampa, on the weekends and a cousin.
“We all take turns,” he said. “We plan to renovate in the future.”
He said he has already has put his own mark on the business adding some menu items, putting out a new menu with pictures to show what the meals look like. One of them is a new shrimp cocktail, he said, and has added breakfast.
“We added a hamburger and fries for the kids. They ask for that a lot,” he said.
As a family they get along well, Herrera said and in downtimes they play board games or play on the computers.
The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday, and Herrera often uses his Mondays off to go shopping.
“It’s different being in business,” Herrera said, but he said he likes being out of heat this summer and will like being out of the cold this winter.
It has been a good opportunity for all his family, Herrera said.
