ASHWAUBENON - After 20 years of work in the restaurant business, Enrique and Oralia Quintana opened Lala's Café and Catering at 2052 Holmgren Way.
The new restaurant is at the former space of Joe's Texas Barbecue and T. Bacon's BBQ; the latter closed in June and moved to the town of Crivitz.
Oralia Quintana said they saw the lack of breakfast and food options in the area made the space at the corner of Holmgren Way and Borvan Avenue a perfect location. Once they learned it was empty and for rent, they went for it.
"The previous owner was also selling everything (kitchen tools and machines,) and we bought it," she said.
Quintana said they renovated the space a bit, added a counter, painted inside and outside and changed the signs.
"We've achieved the American dream," she said. "It's happening right now."
The couple moved from Mexico to Texas in 1999. After just three months, they moved to Green Bay. They have three sons and a daughter.
Quintana said she cleaned tables and waitressed at Tony Romas for six years and at Margaritas's for over a decade. Her husband worked as a cook for several restaurants in Green Bay for two decades, including Julie's Café.
"(Enrique) has a lot of experience with food and makes very good food," she said.
The menu is American food, with breakfast, lunch and early dinner, but there are some Mexican dishes as well. The options for breakfast include omelets, skillets, eggs benedicts and several versions of pancakes. The lunch menu offers hamburgers, sandwiches, wraps and pastas. There are also salads and two soups — a chili and a soup of the day, which will vary.
"We will have specials each day, and that's where we will put the Mexican dishes," Quitana said.
The restaurant is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. For more information, follow the cafe on Facebook.
Ariel Perez is a business reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach him at APerez1@gannett.com or view his Twitter profile at @Ariel_Perez85.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Hispanic couple opens Lala's Café after 20 years working in Green Bay