I don’t know about you, but I love good Mexican food, especially when it’s prepared from family recipes. If you haven’t made it to Don Jose Mexican Cusine in the Merriman Valley, you’re missing out! They’re at 1562 Akron-Peninsula Road in the plaza at the bottom of Portage Trail Extension. Carlos Henandez runs the restaurant where his parents have been cooking their authentic Mexican family recipes since 2024 that keep customers coming back.
I met Carlos the Friday morning after the Merriman Valley flooded from heavy rains in August of 2024 outside his relatively new restaurant. The parking lot was full of mud, and he showed me where mud ran inside the building and luckily stopped before it got to the kitchen. Even with this catastrophe, Carlos had a positive attitude and told me they would be open on Saturday. This restaurant was his parents’ dream and he was not going to let mud stop them. I worked with Mayor Malik and the Service Director’s office to clean up the mud in all the Parking lots in the Valley and Don Jose and other Valley businesses were back on Saturday.
Don Jose is our go to Mexican restaurant these days, and if you’ve been there I’m sure you’ve met Carlos. While he’s always out front welcoming customers, it his parents cooking in the kitchen who are the real stars. Their time honored family recipes are home made, flavorful, and authentic. Stop by and say hello to Carlos and support a great family run local Ward 8 Business!