Do you want to incorporate Mexican culture into your restaurant? Or are you thinking of opening a Mexican-inspired restaurant?
Mexican cuisine has been taking over the food trend these past few years, with Mexican restaurant franchise businesses such as Baja Fresh, Taco Bell, and Chipotle being among the most popular restaurants in the industry. Whether you are conceptualizing your own restaurant or thinking of getting a franchise, here are the must-haves of any Mexican restaurant menu:
1. Tacos
You can’t run a Mexican restaurant if you don’t have tacos! Tacos come in all shapes and sizes: hard shell, soft shell, fish tacos, carne asada tacos, veggie tacos, tofu tacos, and many more.
2. Enchiladas
Enchiladas are corn tortillas filled with savory meats and topped with a sauce. You can have a lot of different fillings for your enchiladas, such as meats, cheese, beans, potatoes, and sauces like salsa roja, chile con queso, and more.
3. Flan
Not a lot of Mexican restaurants offer flan, but it’s a trademark dessert for Mexican cuisine. Flan is relatively easy to make and requires minimal ingredients, so you should definitely consider adding it to your dessert menu.
4. Chiles Rellenos
If you want to add a unique and tasty appetizer to your restaurant’s menu, go for chiles rellenos. These delectable appetizers are chiles stuffed with cheese (sometimes even meat), dredged with coating, and then fried until golden brown.
5. Fajitas
Fatijas is a staple in the Tex-Mex cuisine. Fajitas are simply tortillas filled with grilled meats, vegetables, and cheese. If you want to offer variety, you can serve fajitas that have different types of meat, such as beef steak, chicken, and pork.
6. Salsa
A great Mexican restaurant always has its own signature salsa. Salsa, meaning “sauce” in Spanish, is a tomato and chili blend that is used to dip all sorts of food in. If you want your salsa to stand out, develop a recipe that has its own unique taste.
7. Quesadillas
Quesadillas are quick, low-cost, and tasty appetizers that every Mexican restaurant should have. Simply put, a quesadilla is a type of flat taco that is filled with cheese. Sometimes, restaurants even stuff it with meat, vegetables, and sauces.
8. Empanadas
People who are not of Mexican descent don’t often get a chance to taste a good empanada. Empanadas, which are fried turnovers stuffed with a variety of fillings, can be a signature dish in your menu. You can offer savory empanadas filled with meats and cheese or dessert empanadas that have fruits and sugar in it.
9. Yellow Rice
Make your restaurant’s rice unique by adding spices, bell peppers, and onions into it. The secret ingredient to yellow rice is annatto seeds, which gives the rice a unique flavor and vibrant, yellow-orange color.
10. Mexican Lasagna
Not everyone has the time to make a Mexican lasagna at home, which is why people will be grateful for a restaurant that offers it on their menu. To make a Mexican lasagna, you simply substitute the traditional ingredients with refried beans, green chilies, taco seasoning, sour cream, and salsa.
Opening up a Mexican restaurant can be an excellent opportunity to introduce authentic Mexican cuisine to your community, while also establishing yourself as a business owner. Including these dishes on your menu will help ensure that your business will flourish.
