Margaritas (restaurant)

Margaritas in Lexington, Massachusetts

Margaritas is a restaurant chain in New England serving Mexican food. The restaurant began when several Chuck's Steakhouses locations were converted into Mexican restaurants named Tío Juan's, owned and run by Kukai, Inc. Former employees of Kukai purchased the restaurants in 1985, and in 1996 renamed the chain. The proper name of each restaurant is actually Tío Juan's Margaritas Mexican Restaurant and Watering Hole. However due to the length of the name the restaurant is usually simply referred to as Margaritas.

Apart from the rebranding, the menu and decor of the restaurant did not change in a noticeable way. The owner of a steak house named Barstan's in Orono, Maine partnered with Margaritas' owners, and so that steakhouse was also converted into a Mexican restaurant.

By 1993, there were eight restaurants operating in the Margaritas chain, all located within New England. As of 2010 their website listed 21 restaurants in four states.

The chain is currently managed by Margaritas Management Group Inc., headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Locations

The first Tio Juan's restaurant, located in Concord, New Hampshire is situated within the city's old jail. The restaurant uses this to good effect, placing some tables within cells to create atmospheric and semi-private dining areas. Because the Concord location was the first to be established, and had good name recognition, it was the last to be rebranded Margaritas (in 1999, whereas the other restaurants were rebranded in 1996). The Concord location is supposedly haunted by a ghost named "George." There are two locations in Portland, Maine, one on St. John's Street and one on Brown Street in Portland's historic Old Port District.

External links

• Official website
• New Hampshire Haunted Places