Eddie Leon, owner of the Derry and Londonderry La Carreta Restaurants. Photo by Christine Carignan.
La Carreta, a casual Mexican restaurant chain in NH, is growing. It’s adding two more restaurants in Londonderry and Portsmouth, slated to open this spring, each with a new twist. The Londonderry location will open in May and will be the first La Carreta in NH with a function room. The Portsmouth one will be the first to be located in a downtown.
La Carreta Mexican Restaurant now has four locations owned and operated by different members of the same family. The two locations in Manchester and one in Nashua are owned by Yolanda Munoz, and the one in Derry is owned by her cousin Eddie Leon, his sister Maria Leon and their parents. These restaurants are among more than 40 independently-owned La Carretas nationally that are operated by members of Leon’s family, who all descend from the same town, San José de la Paz, in Mexico.
“There is a lot of competition in the Mexican restaurant business. We’ve got to open up before they open up,” says Eddie Leon, who has 87 first cousins, all in the restaurant business. “A lot of restaurants have opened up around the state by people who used to work for us. I can think of 10 off the top of my head.” Adds Munoz, who operates the Manchester locations with partner Theresa Hughes, “We would hear it from customers in Manchester quite a bit. When are you coming to Portsmouth?”
Having grown up in the restaurant business, Leon learned to watch the industry and the economy. The Derry location is the newest and dates back to 2006 and Leon says it’s the fastest growing. The first location, in Nashua, opened in 1997. Leon says Londonderry has the same potential as Derry given its location on Route 102 near Woodmont Commons, a $1 billion mixed-use project.
Leon says customers often request event space, and the new Londonderry restaurant will have a function room for 40 to 60 people. The Leons are investing $500,000 in the new space. “It is our hope and belief we will become the anchor location in that plaza,” he says.
Munoz and Hughes, who will run the Portsmouth location, had been eyeing the Seacoast city for the last seven years but put the search on hold during the recession. Now they are investing $400,000 in the 172 Hanover St. location. “It’s a new adventure; it’s something very different,” Munoz says of locating downtown.
While the existing restaurants are owned independently, they do share some resources, including unique tequila drinks. The NH owners travel to Mexico to distilleries and taste unique tequilas, bringing back a barrel that is shared among the five restaurants. They also share with customers the stories of the unique, one-time products. “Tequila’s perception has changed a lot from college shots to let’s sip it,” Leon says.
The Londonderry location will employ 20 to 25 people and the Portsmouth restaurant will employ 35 to 40. For more information, visit lacarretamex.com.
Current Issue - April 2024