El Asadero — which serves up Mexican cuisine with a focus on homemade freshness — opened a new restaurant on 127 Gage Blvd. in Richland.

The restaurant is owned and operated by father and son duo

Rafael Arriaga Sr. and Rafael Arriaga Jr.

Their first restaurant opened in 2004 on Fourth Avenue in

Pasco, where El Nuevo Amanecer is now. In 2007, they moved to 2318 Court St.

Arriaga Sr. was a chef in Mexico who always dreamed of

having his own kitchen. He and his sister — who is no longer involved in the

business — partnered up to start El Asadero.

“He started with nothing and built the restaurant from the

ground up, from a small location to where it is now,” Arriaga Jr. said.

He was only 12 and his younger brother 4 when his dad opened

the restaurant. He said he “literally grew up inside the restaurant,” watching

his dad toil away at the business.

It wasn’t always fun as a boy, he admitted, but now he can

appreciate the sacrifices his father made, he said.

“It was my second home. I literally grew up in the restaurant. I see all the

sacrifices at the end and it’s worth it,” Arriaga Jr said. “Ever since I was

23, I knew I wanted to be a part of the business and help it grow. If they did

it with all the obstacles they had, why can’t I?

“It was hard for him. There were days when they didn’t know

how they would make rent. They were scraping the bottom of the barrel those

first five years.”

But they sensed they had gotten to a point last year where

they were ready to expand — and needed room to grow.

“We’ve had that place at max capacity. We outgrew it,” Arriaga Jr said. “A lot

of our customers from Pasco live in this area, so that has been good.”

And when the opportunity presented itself, they jumped on

it.

The building used to be home to Lepice Spice Kitchen, a French

restaurant that closed in 2016.

“We didn’t even plan to be at this location. We looked at

the right building at the right time; it’s a great opportunity for growth,”

Arriaga Jr. said. “We’ve been blessed to have clients from Pasco know where we

are so it hasn’t been bad. We’ve had a great start in this location. Word is

getting out. Every person who has come in here has brought in other family

members afterwards.”

Now Arriaga Jr. is at the helm of the busness and helping

the second location grow. It opened in February.

Arriaga Jr. said what makes the restaurant unique is its focus on fresh

ingredients — all produce and meat are bought daily before 8 a.m. They also

make homemade tortillas.

“The only thing we freeze is the ice cream,” Arriaga Jr.

said.

He used to do all the sourcing himself, but now that his

younger brother, Carlos Arriaga, is 18, he is filling his older brother’s

shoes.

“He was trained by our father to know what to look for in

produce and what prices to look for,” Arriaga Jr. said.

The special attention makes their customer favorites — barbacoa, caldo de res,

pollo asado, tacos, and tortas — taste that much better, he said.

He already has his eyes set on more growth — adding another

restaurant in Richland — to complete the trifecta and maybe one day franchising

the restaurant.

“I think it’s possible to take the franchise to the next

level,” he said. “Franchises are great but they could be better. I don’t like

the idea of making a new franchisee purchase stuff from their approved vendors.

I want to fully train staff of a new franchise to teach them how to purchase

how we purchase, to keep the freshness how we keep the freshness. That’s what

makes every location that much better, but it’s same menu.”

“I’ve always been open to improving,” he said.

The restaurant is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through

Friday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays.

El Asadero serves beer and wine and will soon get a liquor

license to serve other alcohol. They also serve breakfast until noon every day.

El Asadero: 127 Gage Blvd., Richland; 509-554-7313; Facebook.