Mexican with a ‘twist’: New restaurant opens where longtime Boise chain closed location
Over the past two decades, Octavio Fregoso has carved out a solid niche in the Boise dining scene.
His Mexican restaurant, La Tapatia, has operated successfully for 21 years in a strip mall at 401 W. ParkCenter Blvd. For the past decade and a half, Fregoso has sold tacos and burritos to Boise State football fans at Albertsons Stadium, too.
Fregoso, 45, truly enjoys cooking. So when the opportunity arose recently to start a second restaurant?
He jumped on it.
Fregoso opened Barrigas Mexican Restaurant last week at 3447 W. Chinden Blvd. in Garden City. The remodeled space is the former site of Chapala, an Idaho chain with three locations in Boise and two in Nampa. That restaurant — the first Chapala in the Treasure Valley — closed in 2017.
Fregoso purchased the building. After all, it has sentimental value. He moved to Boise from Hailey in 1992 to cook at that very Chapala restaurant when it opened.
“Now I’m back in my place again,” he says with a laugh. “How crazy is that?”
The food at Barrigas is totally different from the menus at La Tapatia and Chapala, he says.
“I have a lot of ideas for new dishes, new concepts,” Fregoso says. “We’ve got the green rice instead of the red rice — even that is different. We’re trying to give it a little different twist on Mexican food. There’s a lot of different meals in there nobody has. A good variety of steaks, too.”
Customers already have gravitated to Churrasco con Chimichurri ($19.50), a charbroiled center-cut steak cooked to taste and served with chimichurri sauce and two sides. Traditionalists likely will dig into Carne Asada skirt steak ($17.69), which also comes with two sides.
A full-service family restaurant, Barrigas offers mid-range prices with culinary choices that run the gamut from familiar to unique. Naturally, there are tasty, fresh-made tortilla chips. You’ll find nachos and tostadas, burritos and fajitas. There’s a combination plate for $13.99. But you also can dig into Huachinango ($17.99), grilled red snapper covered with a special fire red sauce and served with vegetables, rice and seasoned corn. Or Camarones con Tocino ($18.49), sauteed prawns with onions and crispy bacon, served with sour cream, guacamole and two sides.
Running two Mexican restaurants with different menus might sound complicated. Fregoso shrugs it off.
“I have a lot of kids,” he explains. “They’re all working with me.”
Two of Fregoso’s sons manage the restaurants while he stays busy in the kitchen. “I like to do the cooking,” Fregoso says. “We do a lot of catering from La Tapatia, so that’s what I do.”
“We’re doing OK,” he adds with a chuckle. “I’m paying my bills. That’s what matters!”
▪ Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Phone: (208) 608-5913. Online: facebook.com.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 3:04 PM.