Rick Gomez, manager of Los Guerreros restaurant at Misawa Air Base, Japan, talks to his staff before lunchtime customers arrive Tuesday. The 35th Services Squadron recently opened the Mexican restaurant at Gosser Memorial Golf Course to replace Pancho Villa restaurant, which closed earlier this year. (Jennifer H. Svan / S&S)
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Fajitas are sizzling again at the golf course.
Los Guerreros is the second Mexican restaurant to open this year in the spacious 96-seat dining facility next to Gosser Memorial Golf Course, overlooking Lake Ogawara.
Officials with 35th Services Squadron are trying to woo back customers with pledges of top-notch service and good food.
“If folks haven’t come to experience us yet, I think they’ll find some of the best customer service and a great dining experience,” said Tony Holmes, general manager of Misawa’s officers and enlisted clubs.
The restaurant threw its grand opening event last week, though a quiet “soft opening” was held in October while staffers finished training, Holmes said.
This time around, the 35th Services Squadron is taking the helm of Misawa’s much-anticipated Mexican restaurant.
“We felt that Services could supply the community’s needs better than a contractor,” Holmes said.
The restaurant formerly was named Pancho Villa and run by concession holder and Tokyo-area restaurateur Dave Scott. Scott runs a small Pancho Villa near Sagamihara and one at Yokota Air Base.
Before Scott’s tenure, Misawa Air Base sank about $600,000 into building renovations, including a redesigned kitchen, outdoor patio and Mexican-themed interior. When Scott opened Pancho Villa in late March, expectations were high, base officials said. But he was cut loose in July. Base officials said then that they couldn’t disclose why due to the nature of their contract with Scott. Customers interviewed at the time by Stars and Stripes complained of lousy service.
Holmes said diners won’t be disappointed again.
“As far as the other restaurant, there were three major concerns,” he said, “good customer service, food that tastes good and — if you ate at the other restaurant, everybody will be able to appreciate this — everybody gets served at the same time.
“If you walk in with a party of six,” he pledged, “the party of six will get served at the same time.”
Holmes helped launch Los Guerreros, which translates as “The Warriors.” The executive chef of Yokota Air Base’s Officers Club, who has experience in San Antonio’s Mexican restaurant business, designed the recipes and spent two weeks at Misawa training the kitchen staff, Holmes said.
He said menu selections are comparable to the former restaurant, although the recipes differ. Lunch and dinner menus are the same; in the future, he said, the staff hopes to create a lunch menu for customers short on time.
Restaurant manager Rick Gomez said the chicken enchilada is unusual “because it comes with a white sauce” but the fajita seems to be most popular.
“We serve it on a sizzling platter,” he said, which turns heads. “Next time customers come back, they want to get the fajita.”
Los Guerreros will be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. It will be closed Sundays, Mondays and holidays. Call the restaurant at DSN 222-4639 for more information. Reservations are not accepted.
