Lupita Restaurant offers new Mexican dining experience

LYNN ? First came Tacos Lupita, the wildly popular Mexican restaurant at the corner of Munroe and Washington streets, known for its fresh ingredients and fast service.For El Salvadoran immigrants Erasmo Guebara and his wife, Francesca Cabrera, the growth of a loyal customer base is their just reward. Although tiny Tacos Lupita has a few tables, most of the business is takeout. It is also a downtown landmark, mostly among the lunch crowd.Last week, Guebara and Cabrera opened the Lupita Restaurant less than a block away, at 22 Munroe St. The differences between the two eateries were immediately apparent.Lupita is a full-scale restaurant where patrons come to dine, not refuel. There are 48 seats, the tables covered with colorful serapes and topped with plate glass. The walls ? painted orange, green and yellow ? are decorated with Aztec and Mayan posters, sombreros, Mexican artwork and a large-screen TV. The floor is ceramic tile. The tables are not packed closely together.”I like more space. I want my customers to feel comfortable. I love them all,” said Cabrera.The couple has signed a five-year lease for the space, which was formerly the award-winning Lynn Pho Vietnamese Restaurant. They spent the last few months revamping the interior and are currently awaiting word on their beer-and-wine license application.Tacos Lupita, which had no beer-and-wine license, will remain open and run by the couple’s relatives. With the grand opening of the Lupita restaurant, the family now has five eateries ? two in Lynn and one each in Somerville, Lawrence and Haverhill.”We know some people don’t have time to sit and eat, so we will keep Tacos Lupita open. They can come in and out quickly, or sit down if they want,” Cabrera explained. “But if you have a little more time, you can come to the Lupita restaurant and enjoy a full meal.”Over the weekend, the Lupita restaurant was enlivened by a mariachi band.Patrons eagerly tried many of the menu items, especially the roast pork burritos, a medley of fajitas, salads, enchiladas, rice, beans and camarones.Lynn attorney Samuel Vitali, who represents the couple, said the Lupita restaurant has a common victualer’s license. He noted that the beer-and-wine license, once issued, would be assigned to the establishment’s general manager.”We also are making arrangements for the waiters and bartenders to attend a TIPS training course,” Vitali said.Before opening Tacos Lupita, Cabrera worked at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, preparing instruments for surgery. Her husband until recently was employed for a Boston maintenance company, but will now work at the restaurant. They have three children n sons ages 20 and 15, and a 9-year-old daughter. Both husband and wife are natives of the La Unions district of El Salvador, where they met. They arrived in the United States in 1992 and came to Lynn in 2001.Cabrera’s brother-in-law, Leo Zuniga, was familiar with the cooking Mexican food and helped start the family’s first restaurant in Somerville.The restaurant offers a children’s menu. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.