Fresca
Are you hungry but too lazy to make something at home? Do you want to go out but are getting bored by the same restaurants? Want to try something new? Well you’re in luck because as of this summer, there is a new restaurant in town. Fresca Tequila Bar and Grill is a Mexican fusion restaurant located a little ways past the center of Colchester. You can find it at 232 New London Road, Colchester, CT. This restaurant was renovated to a Mexican restaurant after being an Asian restaurant. The restaurant is open throughout the week except on Mondays. You’ll find them open from 4:00 p.m to 10:00 p.m Tuesday-Saturday and 4:00 p.m until 9:00 p.m on Sunday.
The interior of the restaurant is very nice. There are two sections to the restaurant. One side is the dining room, which is more family oriented or for younger people who want to go out. The other section is the cantina, which is for people who are 18 and older. The cantina is more adult friendly. This is where the bar is. It also has more booths, different music, and darker lighting than the dining room, which gives it a different atmosphere. If you’re looking for a specific time to go, it’s calmer and slower from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. Any time later than that, and it starts to get a bit busier. In the dining room, there are low dangling lights and wooden floors. The walls are a cream-white color and have paintings and pictures along the walls. The tables have little plants on each of them and a variety of hot sauces to choose from. A customer new to Fresca, Abby Utz, explained how she thought that the restaurant looked like it had a western feel to it and exclaimed that the aesthetic was very satisfying. After asking customers what they thought could be changed in the restaurant, Abby said, “The chairs and stools in the dining room could use some cushions, and the tables along the booths could be longer so that more people can fit.” The manager of the restaurant said that the two owners of the restaurant, Po Fong and Jennifer Marozzi, decorated it themselves.
Not only was the interior amazing, but so was the food. As an appetizer, I ate the chicken quesadilla. On it, there were peppers, onions, and melted cheese. This was all on top of a flour tortilla, which was very easy to take apart so there was no need for a way to cut it. As an entrée, I decided to get the surf and turf which consisted of shrimp and grilled steak inside a tortilla wrap. It also came with rice and beans. As a dessert, I had the sopapillas which are Mexican fried dough balls with hot, chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. The only thing I noticed was that it was a little messy to eat, but in the end it was worth it with every delicious bite. The manager, Meg, who was also my server, recommended getting the steak or the fried avocado taco. She also said that some of the customer favorites include the steak, the mexican egg rolls, and the tacos. Abby Utz said that she had the mexican egg rolls. She said they were delicious, but what she really loved was the avocado ranch dressing that came with the egg rolls. Another person new to Fresca was Kassidy Hambrecht. She said that as her main meal, she had the cheese quesadilla which was given along with their house salsa. “Though it was a very simple and plain order”, said Kassidy “it was delicious.” To better understand how good they were, Kassidy said that she would recommend the chicken or cheese quesadilla to newcomers. For dessert, she had the decadent chocolate lava cake, which was served with fresh fruit and whipped cream. The only thing she would have wanted different was that it not be so hot and that there should have been melted chocolate oozing from the center. She also stated that she wished that there was a separate dessert menu not on the same menu as the appetizers and entrées.
I asked Meg why she liked working here at Fresca. She replied with, ¨it’s a family restaurant and it’s a fun work environment.¨ She also stated that she liked that the restaurant is owned by Ms. Fong and Ms. Marozzi. She said that what was cool about the restaurant was that the staff is nice and it’s mostly younger people in their twenties that work there. When asked what she thought differentiated this restaurant from the other restaurants in town, she once again said that it was a women owned business. A customer said that what they thought made it different was that it was homely and comfortable and calm.
I was curious as to why the restaurant had been changed to a Mexican restaurant. Meg said that one of the former owners for the Asian restaurant , Po Fong, is now one of the co-owners of Fresca. Ms. Fong decided to change it to a Mexican restaurant because there were a lot of Asian restaurants in Colchester and business wasn’t doing great. Another thing that fueled the change was that the other co-owner, Ms. Marozzi, had always wanted to open a Mexican restaurant, and they both thought it’d be a good change of scenery for the town. Meg also said that along with the change of the culture of the restaurant, the physical appearance of the restaurant itself was changed as well. The whole restaurant was remodeled. In fact, the owners tried to make everything as different as possible. Even the menu is different. The only thing that was kept fairly similar was the kitchen set up. One thing that caught my eye was the wooden bull towards the entrance of the cantina, which is their new mascot, Mrs. Uddersworth. There you are able to wear sombrero hats and take great pictures.
Along with the opening of the restaurant, Meg stated they have already achieved many of the short-term goals they set for themselves. One of the important goals accomplished was getting a good staff. Meg said that, “The first month was very trying. A lot of people came and left. Now though, we are getting into a good groove and have a good staff.” She also said that business has been good. “The first month was really busy, then it slowed down a bit because school started and it was the end of summer, and over the past weeks, we’ve started to get busy again.”
One other goal that Fresca has achieved is solidifying their menu. They started off with their original menu, and will soon have to edit to their final menu. Additionally, they plan to reprint all of their menus, change some stuff in the kitchen, and come up with new recipes. Other short-term goals that have been accomplished include hosting private parties, participating in some flea markets, and offering catering. Because they are a Mexican restaurant, they will be celebrating some of the traditional Mexican holidays such as the Mexican Day of The Dead. They will also be offering little specials such as Taco Tuesday where you can get dinner specials and have happy hour where you can get half off a couple cocktails and appetizers.
One of their long-term goals they still wish to reach, is to promote more marketing and advertising in their restaurant over time. They wish to become a restaurant that entices people from around Connecticut with their Mexican fusion cuisine. To do this, they will need to become more solid in their practice. Fresca has become very popular amongst the community and their regular customers, with their fusion cuisine menu. They plan to continue growing and become a destination restaurant that has a strong enough appeal to attract customers from beyond the community of Colchester.
Out of my experience, I thought that the restaurant offered a warm, Western culture feel, the staff was very nice and attentive to the needs of customers, the prices were reasonable ($$$) and ranged from $2.00 to $24.00, and the food was delicious and I’d go back to try it all over again. If you’re excited to try Fresca Tequila Bar and Grill, you can locate them at their website (http://frescabarandgrill.com/) which offers their full menu, and you can also check them out on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pg/frescatequilabar).
