Fiesta transforms Kennewick restaurant into event center

Isidro Ortiz is turning his Fiesta Restaurant on Gage Boulevard in Kennewick into an event center.

Courtesy Terral Russell

Fiesta Restaurant owner Isidro Ortiz has always been able to adapt.

In 2020, when the pandemic kept patrons from dining inside, Ortiz and his staff began selling takeout meals from their Kennewick restaurant at 8524 W. Gage Blvd.

They propped the doors open, blocked the entrance so no one could come inside, and put customers’ takeout orders on the table for pickup. Fiesta was one of the first area restaurants to do this, Ortiz said.

Now Ortiz has shifted strategies again.

He transformed the Kennewick restaurant into an event center, effective April 1.

The change was necessary, Ortiz said. “It’s the way things are now economically. It’s the way the cost-of-living expenses are now for food and labor,” he said.

Ortiz operates three Fiesta restaurants in the Tri-Cities: the Gage Boulevard restaurant in Kennewick; the Pasco restaurant at 5210 N. Road 68, Suite L; and the Richland restaurant at 2731 Queensgate Drive.

The Kennewick restaurant is the least profitable of the three, he said, noting that food costs have dramatically increased.

“It’s a bigger sized restaurant compared to the other two,” he said. “But the customer base has been amazing. There are just a lot of expenses for this size of a restaurant. The idea arose of turning this into a reservations-only restaurant and private events center. With that, we will be more organized with our expenses.”

When Ortiz and his mother, Teresa Ortiz, started Fiesta in 2001 — the Pasco location opened first — they wanted to give customers a taste of what food from the Michoacan region of Mexico was like.

They expanded to Kennewick in 2012 and to Richland in 2018.

Teresa still gets involved through quality control, Isidro said.

Fiesta employs 85 workers between the restaurants and catering business.

The restaurants have developed a loyal following over the years.

“We’ve been the No. 1 Mexican restaurant in the Tri-Cities for a long time in those customer polls,” said Ortiz. “That tells me something about our customers.”

He said he expected some pushback about the Kennewick restaurant changes.

“Some people took it hard when we broke the news about this place,” Ortiz said. “But the traffic in this area is still not that bad. And they’ll still get our great service. We’re not going anywhere.”

Ortiz said he drove from the Gage restaurant to the Richland and Pasco restaurants to gauge how far away each was. “I did the mileage. It’s 5 miles from the Gage restaurant to Queensgate, and 5 miles to Road 68,” he said.

Catering is big business

Ortiz has always done catering.

“Catering was my forté when I worked for the Ritz-Carlton (before Fiesta),” he said. “We’ve been active on the catering business here since Day 1. And I’ll admit there is more of a profit margin in catering. I know how to do it.”

To book the venue, there must be a minimum number of 25 people, but the center can accommodate up to 250, making it a terrific size for weddings, birthdays, quinceañeras or corporate gatherings, Ortiz said.

“Say you have a group of 40 people that wants to get together on a Friday for dinner. That’s hard to do for any restaurant around, especially short notice,” Ortiz said. “We can do that here.”

The Kennewick location’s large, full bar and televisions are great for large events, he said. The booths with a wall separating them in the middle have been removed to clear floor space.

In their place, large round tables will be laid out.

The event center will have a more limited menu than the other two locations mainly because food will be served buffet style.

“By having an official venue, it’ll be a great add-on to our restaurants we have at Queensgate and Road 68,” he said. “All of the catering comes out of here. Our headquarters are out of this location.”

Adapting to change

Ortiz said he's seen many restaurants close.

“We fought through Covid, and we were trying to keep as many of our staff employed. But we also wanted to open up for our customers. It’s been a struggle at times. I’m a small business owner.”

Fiesta received SBA-backed Paycheck Protection Program loans to keep its workforce employed, of which more than $439,000 was forgiven, according to federal public records.

Higher expenses may have prompted the latest change, but Ortiz is looking forward to the new possibilities.

“We’re excited, and hopefully people come in for their weddings, quinceañeras, and whatever any other event there is,” Ortiz said.