An expanding craft cocktails menu features fan favorites such margaritas made with fresh lime juice and in-house infused jalapeño tequila.
The Connecticut restaurant is known to customers for its traditional dishes and high-quality ingredients.
And it’s the customers and community who have helped Mansfield’s Coyote Flaco Mexican Restaurant thrive, the owner said.
Coyote Flaco first opened in Hartford in 1999, where it is still in business today at 635 New Britain Ave. The Mansfield restaurant is about to celebrate 20 years in town.
It started when parents Alcibiades and Esperanza Cabrera began looking to expand and included Mansfield in a list of possible new locations.
“The reason my parents first decided to come to Mansfield is the same reason we’ve been lucky enough to be able to stay: the community,” said William Cabrera, who now owns the restaurant with his brother, Jose Cabrera.
“My parents drove out here to just experience the town and its people multiple times before finally deciding to make the call and open the location here,” William Cabrera said. “Twenty years later and there is no doubt in my mind that they made the right decision.”
Known for traditional Mexican dishes, Coyote Flaco also prides itself on using high-quality ingredients and produces its own fresh sauces daily. An expanding craft cocktails menu features fan favorites such margaritas made with fresh lime juice and in-house infused jalapeño tequila.
However, said Cabrera “The community is the main reason that we have thrived, especially during Covid. Our loyal customer base really got us through the through times.”
Cabrera said that he and his brother have met many other small business owners that have helped them connect even more with the community by co-sponsoring events such as Taste2Towns and the Tour de Mansfield, a bike ride.
About memorable events over the past 20 years, Cabrera said that there are too many to choose from, noting “The best thing about the restaurant will be the relationships that we have made.”
“This restaurant was born from the dreams of my parents, and I along with Jose and Jaime, our head chef, have seen it transform before our eyes from a restaurant trying to make a name to a place where members of the community happily and regularly come to eat, drink, and spend time together,” said Cabrera.
“In this way we have achieved what my parents set out to do 20 years ago, and we are grateful to have been lucky enough to do so. We are happy to be celebrating 20 years this month, and every person who has ever walked through our doors has played a part in our story,” he said..
The restaurant celebration on Tuesday, March 26 in Mansfield will feature a Mariachi band performing from 5 to 8 p.m., and special offers of $3 tacos and $6 house margaritas from 5 to 9 p.m.
The Cabreras welcome everyone, loyal, established customers and new ones, to come out and celebrate with them. Coyote Flaco is located at 50 Higgins Highway, Mansfield Center.
