The building once home to Pasco’s longest continuously operating restaurant is now serving up cuisine from another continent.

The Chinese food once dished up at 1520 N. Fourth Ave. has given way to south of the border and Southern California favorites, such as loaded carne asada (lime-marinated steak) fries, birria (goat or beef cooked in broth), pollo loco (fire-grilled chicken) and, of course, deep-fried cinnamon encrusted churros with a variety of sauces and sweet toppings.

Javi’s Chicken and Churros opened in November 2024. The owners, Francisco and Laura Gonzalez of Sunnyside, operate two other restaurants under the same name in Grandview and Sunnyside.

They named the business after their first son, Javi, who was about 4 years old when it opened.

South of border fare

The couple say they are excited that the Pasco Javi’s provides an opportunity to offer a bigger food and drink menu.

At its heart, Francisco Gonzalez said Javi’s menu is a coming-together of many unique regional Mexican cuisines, but with a focus on the border town food his family enjoyed living in Southern California.

“In a border town, you get people who migrate there from all corners of Mexico, so you find everything there,” he said.

Francisco Gonzalez recalled that when his family moved to Washington eight years ago, he noticed that a lot of foods they were used to seeing – like birria and flame-broiled chicken – weren’t often on local menus.

He said there is a heavy focus among area Mexican restaurants on carnitas, chicharrones and other styles from other regions.

His parents are from Jalisco where birria is said to derive from, so with his mom’s help finetuning the recipes, he made that the center of several headlining dishes.

“Our signature dish would be our birria tacos: doraditas,” he said. Doraditas, per Javi’s menu, are crunchy tacos with birria meat topped with melted cheese, onion, cilantro and guacamole.

“We also sell a lot of our fajitas, molcajetes, as well as (seafood) and prime cuts of meat like steaks, rib eye and New York cuts,” he said.

Everything is cooked fresh daily. “Rice, beans, all our meats … a lot is cooked to order. We notice from a lot of restaurants that they’ll cook off certain items for the whole week and have them frozen to reheat as they go, but we don’t do that here.”

Photo by Laura Kostad

Opportunities to grow

Like many businesses that started in the last several years, a defining moment for Javi’s was the Covid-19 pandemic, which occurred a little over a year after it opened.

“After Covid hit, we started doing even better (business). People were staying local and we were just doing to-go orders,” Francisco Gonzalez said, adding that the uptick enabled him and his wife to pursue their second location in Sunnyside, which is similar in size to the Pasco restaurant and caters more toward nightlife as it features a bar, lounge, pool tables, darts and more, as well as regular live music offerings.

“It kind of came at a perfect time because when we were a month away from opening, they had massive layoffs at my job. Then, a week after we opened the (second) restaurant it ended up getting busy enough that my wife had to quit her job, too, as a schoolteacher,” he said.

His wife is now a stay-at-home mom and ongoing partner in the business along with several of their family members, including both of his parents, his brother, who manages the Pasco location, his sister and several cousins.

Riding on the success and revenue from their first two businesses, Tri-Cities was the next place to go given the large Latino community.

Building updates

The previous restaurant building owners prided themselves on maintaining the retro restaurant appearance, but beneath the decor there was a lot in need of updating.

In April 2022, the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business announced the retirement of Chinese Gardens’ longtime owners, Ted and Amy Wong.

The Wongs put the building up for sale shortly thereafter and sold it to the Gonzalezes for $700,000 in 2023, according to the property records.

Francisco Gonzalez said they have invested more than $200,000 in renovations, including replacing the HVAC system, fumigation, new hard floors throughout the 8,052-square-foot facility, new bar and kitchen equipment, reupholstering seating, new lighting, repainting inside and out and all new decor, among others.

“We’re still not done,” he noted.

One novelty diners may recognize from the restaurant’s former life is the collection of 325 vintage Jim Beam whiskey decanters. However, Francisco Gonzalez said they probably won’t stay in favor of decor that celebrates the culture of the restaurant and its cuisine.

Photo by Laura Kostad

Future plans

Francisco Gonzalez said he looks forward to being able to host more events such as DJ nights, live music, karaoke, a “speakeasy” themed night and more at the new Pasco location like the Sunnyside Javi’s is able to.

However, he’s run up against code roadblocks with the city of Pasco as other downtown businesses occupying older buildings have likewise encountered.

He said the biggest is “they want older buildings to retrofit sprinkler systems ... which would cost us $60,000,” Francisco Gonzalez said.

He described Pasco’s building code as very stringent to the point “of thinking about just selling the place” and relocating elsewhere in Tri-Cities.

For now, he’s sticking it out.

“We’re here to serve the community,” he said. “We’re grateful for all our customers and the community that’s been supporting us and keeping us busy.”

In just a few weeks, they will be opening a Javi’s Chicken and Churros food truck, which will be permanently parked at Single Hill Brewery in Yakima.

“We’re going to do birria, tacos, a more basic menu but also some really good vegetarian options over there,” Francisco Gonzalez said.

Javi’s also offers catering and online ordering.

Leaving a legacy

Reflecting on the busy past seven years, he and Laura are proud to have a Javi’s location to pass down to each of their children, which was one of their business aspirations from the onset.

With three restaurants and a food truck under their belt, one might wonder where they plan to go next, but Francisco Gonzalez said, “This is kind of where I want to stop. I want to be able to dedicate more time to my kids right now while they’re little.”

Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday to Sunday, closed Mondays.

Javi’s Chicken and Churros: 1520 N. Fourth Ave., Pasco, 626-716-0813, javischickenchurros.com.