The Country Commons Shopping Center, at the intersection of Route 55 and Route 82 in LaGrange, becomes quite the hub when dinner time rolls around.
The parking lot is typically bustling in the evening, especially as the week draws closer to Friday and the weekend.
Finding a spot might prove difficult, but diners will eagerly wait to nab a table at Casa Amigos, and soon, locals will see more of Casa Amigos.
The family is planning to launch two new restaurants.
The first of the two will open in Kerhonkson in Ulster County, and the second will be in Wappingers Falls in Dutchess County.
What is Casa Amigos?
When inside Casa Amigos, the restaurant is full of life, in terms of design and with diners.
Sit at booths and tables topped with art depicting cultural scenes and look up to find dazzling sombreros lining the ceiling.
At some point during the night, there’s a good chance you’ll see steaming hot and sizzling fajitas on the way to someone’s table, too.
Warm wood tones and vivid colors throughout help cultivate the atmosphere the Casa Amigos family has been striving for since November 2022: a family-owned business providing an inviting space to indulge in Mexican cuisine.
Yet, it’s not all ambiance that sets the tone of the restaurant.
It’s a combination of the three restaurant partners, brothers Sergio Jimenez and Jose Jimenez, as well as their uncle Elder Jimenez, from Guatemala, who run it, along with the familiar faces, their regulars, who come in and have built a relationship with the staff.
“We’re all family,” Arianna Torres, back of house staff and wife of Sergio Jimenez, said.
Torres helped translate during the Poughkeepsie Journal’s conversation with her and Jimenez to ensure both their voices were heard.
They’ve grown to know their customers well, such as the food and drink orders they like best.
But moreover, Torres and Jimenez said, it’s been sweet to see families with little ones, who’ve been supporting the restaurant since the beginning, now putting their children in school and watching the kids grow up.
Food highlights: What’s popular at Casa Amigos?
For Torres and Jimenez, the first thing that came to mind when asked about the food people must try when going to Casa Amigos was their “Molcajete Casa Amigos.”
Served in a molcajete, a hot volcanic stone bowl, this meal comes out still bubbling from the fire. According to their menu, it includes skirt steak, chicken, shrimp and sauteed vegetables in a light chipotle cream sauce and topped with a white, tropical cheese.
While it may seem a bit intimidating at first to those who haven’t tried it before, Torres said, “you’ll never go back” to life without it.
The pair also mentioned their birria tacos and the freshly made tableside guacamole as other fan favorites.
In terms of drinks, all their margaritas are a go-to choice for their guests, but their blood orange margarita in particular is the most popular. Another crowd pick is their watermelon mojito.
Why is Casa Amigos adding new locations?
Both new restaurant locations were opportunities the Jimenez brothers and Uncle Jimenez couldn’t pass up.
For the Kerhonkson spot specifically, according to Torres and Jimenez, the site was fairly sought after and could have turned into any number of places. Yet, after the landlord visited Casa Amigos LaGrange spot, he told them it was theirs to have.
It helps their employees and family, who keep the LaGrange location running “perfectly,” Torres and Jimenez said, have also been there to aid with construction, cleaning, finding new employees and chefs too.
They wouldn’t be able to do what they do without the support of their family, according to Torres and Jimenez.
“It really does make a huge difference,” Torres said. “…We all pitch in.”
What will the new Casa Amigos be like? The experience?
If you are already a fan of the original Casa Amigos, you’re in luck. These two new locations are going to be as similar as they can be to the one that started it all.
The goal is to have more space, not to change what they’re doing.
Even following an expansion to the LaGrange Casa Amigos, after being open for just about a year, in late October 2023, that wasn’t enough to hold off the queue.
“Friday, Saturday and Sunday, even during the week sometimes, there’s a wait time,” Torres said, and accommodating everyone can be a challenge — it’s a fairly small restaurant.
Thus, with the Kerhonkson Casa Amigos and Wappingers Falls Casa Amigos on the way, the aim is to be able to host larger parties when they can’t do so as often now.
The menu, including food and drinks, ambiance and family-owned and -oriented mindset will be “consistent,” Torres said, between the locations.
The main departure, with different chefs at each Casa Amigos, diners will most likely find varied specials at each location.
Also, new employees are coming to train at the LaGrange location to ensure service is up to their standards at the new spots.
Kerhonkson’s Casa Amigos: location, estimated opening
Ulster County residents may expect a soft opening of the second Casa Amigos, located at 6508 Route 209 in Kerhonkson, as soon as late March. In a previous life, the building was a Mexican restaurant called Don Juan.
Torres and Jimenez said as of now, the family is just waiting on a few things coming in from Mexico to put the finishing touches on the restaurant, so the goal is to open as soon as possible.
“Other than that, everything’s pretty much set,” Torres said.
Wappingers Falls’ Casa Amigos: location, estimated opening
The Wappingers Falls Casa Amigos location will be at the former Odyssey Diner, situated at 1515 Route 9.
This spot may not be as far along as the Kerhonkson location, but there is an end in sight. Torres and Jimenez said the family obtained all their permits from the town board and can move forward with the vision they had for the restaurant.
Once the architect’s plans are in, and gives them the go-ahead to begin work, “then it’s all hands on deck,” Torres said.
Their hope is to open this spot by the end of 2026.
What does the future hold for Casa Amigos?
Torres and Jimenez said there’s always room for improvement, and they will continue to upgrade their service and whatever else they can.
But further future expansions could be on the horizon.
“I can’t say that we’ll stop at having just three Casa Amigos, because I don’t know, maybe an opportunity comes, and then we’ll have a fourth and a fifth,” Torres said.
If the prospect is there, they’ll take it, so long as the food, service and what they’re all about remains the same.
“We’re just excited to be able to have more people try Casa Amigos,” Torres said.
So, keep an eye out for what lies ahead for Casa Amigos. Visit their Instagram page: @casaamigosrestaurant.
Nickie Hayes is the Breaking & Trending News Reporter for the Poughkeepsie Journal and focuses on how to make the most of what the mid-Hudson Valley has to offer. See her most recent articles here. Contact reporter Nickie Hayes: NHayes@poughkee.gannett.com, 845-863-3518 and @nickieehayess on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Casa Amigos Mexican restaurant is expanding into Ulster County
Reporting by Nickie Hayes, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
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