For Gabriela Arellano, Margaritas Mexican Food has become far more than the place where she goes to work. After working with owner Ruby Bugarin for more than two decades, she describes it simply as her second home.
Arellano, now Margaritas’ general manager, began working at the restaurant as a hostess when she was about 19. When a server position became available, she was given an opportunity to move up and spent years waiting tables before eventually being considered for management.
She initially hesitated.
“I was good as a server, but I wanted to challenge myself,” Arellano said. She accepted the position and has now been a manager for about 10 years.
The opportunity changed her professionally and personally, she said. Having worked as both a hostess and server gave her years of experience with the restaurant before she moved into leadership. She also worked with Bernardino, the father of current owner Ruby, early in her career and has worked with Ruby for more than two decades.
Managing the restaurant has also meant adapting to changes in the industry, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Arellano said she tries to stay informed about technology and other developments and takes courses and classes to help her run the restaurant in a changing environment.
That longevity extends well beyond management.
Arellano estimates about 70% of her coworkers have been at Margaritas for more than 20 years. She pointed to her coworker Nestor, who began working there as a teenager and is now over 60, as an example of that longevity. Customers, she said, regard him as an old friend.
Longtime customers have become equally familiar.
“We know a lot of the customers since they were dating,” she said. “Now they have kids. Now their kids are getting married.”
One group of women made Margaritas their weekly meeting place for years. Their relationship with Arellano eventually extended outside the restaurant: The women attended baby showers for two of her children.
“I think it’s just nice that we are a location for friends to gather together,” she said. “A place where they feel comfortable, welcome and happy.”
As Margaritas approaches its 50th anniversary, Arellano said that sense of belonging influences how she manages the restaurant.
“This is not just my job. This is my house,” she said. “I see this as my own place. That’s how I try to run it.”
She said many coworkers feel similarly and credited Ruby and her family with respecting employees and keeping their door open to them. She also expressed gratitude that the family-owned restaurant has endured through the pandemic and said Margaritas continues to keep its food fresh, homemade and made from scratch.
Looking ahead, Arellano hopes to remain part of Margaritas’ story.
“I would love to be here and see what this place becomes in the future,” she said.
Margaritas Mexican Restaurant is located at 155 S. Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena. The restaurant serves Mexican food for lunch and dinner, with current listings showing operating hours beginning at 11 a.m. Parking is available on site, with street parking also available. For more information, call (626) 449-4193 or visit margaritaspasadena.com.
