Visit a local Mexican restaurant on May 5
CINCO DE MAYO , from P . 24
“ It ’ s thin steak and cooked onions , and that was actually my grandmother ’ s recipe which is my dad ’ s mom ,” Joanna Garcia said .
Another popular downtown Hammonton destination is Fiesta Mexicana , located at 327 12th St . For Cinco de Mayo they will be having a DJ , live music and a limited menu .
“ We are having a limited menu for that specific day just because it gets so crazy . No reservations . First come , first serve ,” Carmen Castaneda said with the help of her daughter , Dianne Castaneda who translated .
Hours that day will be extended to 10 p . m .
“ As soon as we open , within 30 minutes we ’ ll start getting the first set of customers and from there , it ’ s non-stop all
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AT FIESTA MEXICANA . day ,” Carmen Castaneda said .
The limited menu will include their most popular items such as empanadas , nachos , guacamole , burritos and queso dip .
Since Fiesta Mexicana is the only Mexican restaurant in town with a liquor license , a lot of people come for the drinks .
“ The Cinco de Mayo margarita is very popular that day ,” Carmen Castaneda said .
The margarita contains tequila , pineapple , lime juice and coconut water .
“ I enjoy it [ Cinco de Mayo ]. Everyone ’ s happy . They come and they just want to have drinks and have a good time ,” Dianne Castaneda said .
Carmen Castaneda and her husband Noe Castaneda started the restaurant on November 14 , 1998 .
“ I got married and we came over to Hammonton to live . My husband loved my cooking , so he pushed me and said , ‘ what if we start a restaurant and see if it lasts ?’ … I also had experience . At Mexico , they have a lot of taco stands , which aren ’ t fullblown restaurants like this , but that ’ s where I got some experience ,” Carmen Castaneda said .
Before Fiesta Mexicana , there weren ’ t a lot of Mexican restaurants in town .
“ When I first got here and there wasn ’ t a lot of Mexican restaurants , Cinco de Mayo wasn ’ t really celebrated or wasn ’ t made much of a point to be celebrated , and now
with a bunch of the restaurants open people celebrate it more ; there ’ s more of a presence about it ,” Carmen Castaneda said .
For Joanna Garcia , Cinco de Mayo resonates a “ huge sense of pride .”
“ Cinco de Mayo for us it ’ s a huge sense of pride ; It resonates within us . A huge sense of pride resonates within me because for my beautiful Mexican culture if Cinco de Mayo people and other countries celebrate , such as ours the U . S ., I ’ d like for people to understand our Mexican culture for what it is . Our culture is something that is kind , it ’ s passionate , it ’ s bright and it ’ s strong-willed . Celebrate us by knowing what today means . Enjoy our food ,
THE HAMMONTONIAN | APRIL 2022 | P . 25
TORTAS FROM TACOS AL CARBON .
our music , our clothing and so on because they ’ re all forms of art that ties us to our identity , our culture and our history ,” Joanna Garcia said .
For more information about Tacos al Carbon , call ( 609 ) 457-7859 or visit their Facebook and Instagram @ tacosalcarbon . 1998 and their website tacosalcarbon . org .
For more information about Fiesta Mexicana call ( 609 ) 704-1611 or visit their Facebook and Instagram @ fiestamexicana . nj and their website fiestamexicananj . com .
Other Mexican restaurants in Hammonton include El Mariachi Loco ( 101 Bellevue Avenue ) and Marquez Mexican Grill ( 8 Railroad Avenue ).
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