“The menu is our mother's food, it's exactly what Ira and I grew up with.”

The Falmouth Enterprise
June 23, 2006

By: Mark A. Brown

At Ay! Caramba Café at the Falmouth Mall, the town's newest Mexican restaurant, the menu is a tribute to the woman who inspired its cuisine.
“That's our mom,” said Ralph Mendoza pointing to the reverse of the placard. His finger lands next to a photograph of a smiling woman wearing a bright-patterned traditional dress.
Mr. Mendoza co-owns Ay! Caramba Café with his sister, Iraesma Mendoza, and her friend, Judith Blatchford. The three live in Harwich, where the original restaurant, which they also own, has been open since 2000.
“The menu is our mother's food,” Mr. Mendoza said. It's exactly what Ira and I grew up with.”
Their mother, the late Virginia Barrera, a native of the Mexican state of Chihuahua , was a singer and entertainer, Mr. Mendoza said. She hosted “Fandango,” the first Latin-American television show in Los Angeles , which aired from 1956 to 1958, he said.
The restaurant, which opened April 25, occupies space at the rear of the courtyard of Falmouth Mall. It was formerly occupied by Dunkin Donuts.
“Ira and Judy were living in New York City , and Judy owned a home in Harwich,” Mr. Mendoza said. “Every time Ira visited the Cape , she noted the lack of Mexican food available here.”
His sister opened the Harwich restaurant on her own six years ago, he said, “She had just nine chairs and most of the business was takeout,” said Mr. Mendoza. Within a few months of ifs debut he said, he moved from Los Angeles , their hometown, to Harwich to help her run the business.
A year later, Ms. Blatchford left Manhattan and a successful career in video production to join the team. “We added another room in our second year, and the cantina a year after that,” Mr. Mendoza said.
Many of their customers in Harwich came from the Upper Cape , he said, “They'd always ask, ‘When are you going to open one of these in Falmouth ?'”
Heeding their call, Ms. Mendoza began seeking out locations in and near Falmouth , settling on the current site this spring. The new restaurant seats 40 at indoor table and booths, while six red-wood tables in the quiet courtyard can accommodate another 16 diner in wide slat-backed chairs.
A fully stocked bar with 10 stools offer homemade sangria and 35 different tequila in addition to specialty drinks. The well-lit interior is decorated in vibrant yellow and blues.
Specialties include burritos with marinated char-grilled beef and chicken or slow-roasted pork, enchiladas, shrimp diablo, and chile relleno. Salads, quesadillas, soft-shell tacos, and homemade guacamole are also available.
Mr. Mendoza said he hopes the takeout business in Falmouth will grow.
“We've got some local businesses and doctor's offices that pick up large lunch orders,” he said, “but most takeout places are walk-up. Here, we're set back a ways from the parking area.”
Mexican restaurants have had a checkered history in Falmouth . In 2002, fire destroyed the former iguana's which had opened in Tataket Square in 1996. The Cantina, which was renamed and converted from Italian to Mexican cuisine in February 2003, closed in May 2004. It has since reopened as Sorrento Caffe.

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