La Casa Lopez has been dishing out the flavors of Mexico in downtown Moscow for over a decade, and the locals have named it the best restaurant in town for the second year in a row.
Owner Mitchel Lopez said the restaurant has provided diners with an atmosphere reminiscent of Mexico, complete with soft Latin music in the background, authentic Mexican food and an overall casual dining experience.
Nina Rydalch | Argonaut
The rustic decor at La Casa Lopez creates a warm atmosphere.
“I like everything about that place,” said Alma Delic, a student at the University of Idaho.
Shauna Donaldson, also a student at UI, said she has been to the restaurant a couple times, including once to celebrate her most recent birthday, and appreciated how everything looked.
“We wanted to provide an atmosphere that you can feel like you”re in Mexico at least, or somewhere tropical,” Lopez said.
Lopez said they have achieved that goal through the music, rustic décor, bright foliage and a fountain running in the center of the restaurant. Lopez said the music they play is a mix of everything, unlike many other Mexican restaurants, which choose one genre and play it continuously.
“We play everything from mariachi to salsa, to Latin rock, to new age Spanish music,” Lopez said.
He said he wants the music to make people want to dance and in fact, people often do dance as they wait in the foyer.
He said his mother and father also own the restaurant, and three of his siblings play a role in making the restaurant a success.
“It”s been always a family affair here,” Lopez said.
The Lopez family first came to Moscow in 1994.
According to Lopez, his father had been searching for a different job when Lopez”s uncle, who was opening a restaurant in Spokane, called to tell him there were available buildings in Moscow and Lewiston.
“He checked out Lewiston, and then they came back around and checked out Moscow. They fell in love with Moscow,” he said.
He said his father enjoyed the hospitality of the small town, something Delic said La Casa Lopez also embodies.
“The wait staff is very friendly, the servers are as well,” Delic said.
In 2002, they found their current location, and remodeled it to bring a rustic Mexican feel to the place, Delic said.
Lopez said the restaurant atmosphere is part of why he loves going to work.
“I get to listen to music, I get to make food for people that are wanting to try new things and I get to laugh with them,” he said.
He said he was surprised and excited to hear La Casa Lopez was voted the best restaurant in Moscow.
Lopez said he thinks customers appreciate the consistency of the food quality, the price range and the colors.
He said since it opened, the restaurant has grown as Moscow and Pullman have grown. At the beginning, they had 20 to 25 employees and now they have about 50.
“Whether a customer is having a bad or a good day, we want them to come in here and have a great time – have food that”s been made fresh, that”s authentic,” Lopez said.
Nina Rydalch can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NinaRobin7