Rita Pimentel was born in San Martin de Bolaños, Jalisco, Mexico. She came from a family of entrepreneurs. A family that grew or raised everything they ate. It was a way of life and at an early age her mother taught her to cook. Rita arrived to Eureka, California in 1986 with her two children in pursuit of the American dream. She quickly found a job to support her family. One day, after pondering her passions, she came up with idea of opening her own restaurant. Rita felt that in Eureka, California, Mexican food was nothing like it was in Jalisco, Mexico. Rita understood that she enjoyed making Mexican recipes and sharing them with the world. Based on her experiences growing up she decided that freshness would be the cornerstone to her success. In other words, food would be prepared with the freshest ingredients available. Many of the recipes in our restaurants or for products in stores are based on recipes from Rita’s grandmother handed down generation to generation (verbally of course). Rita has a strong code of ethics and is very outspoken. Rita has a strong bond with her employees because she is very genuine with relationships. Rita believes that serving food to the world is one of the most honorable ways of making a positive impact and she enjoys sharing the interesting flavors with the world.
In 1988, Rita opened a hole in the wall restaurant and founded what would become a four restaurant chain (as of May 2011). After years of hard work she finally opened the Harris Street Location in 2001. Despite the economy at the time the restaurant was a success and acquired its first liquor license in 2003. Concurrently her son Roberto left Humboldt State University to focus on the family business. In 2007 Rita's opened a third restaurant location at 1134 5th St. Eureka, CA and the first Rita's Super Market at 815 J St. Arcata, CA. Lastly in 2008, Rita's opened up a new restaurant location at 855 8th St. (Suite 3) Arcata, CA 95521 and our production warehouse at 12 W. 4th St. Eureka, CA. More recently, Rita’s has acquired a new location for the fifth street location. It will be moving to 1111 5th Street, Eureka, CA. It is expected to open in Mid June.
Rita Pimentel, Founder
Rita Pimentel founded Rita's Margaritas & Mexican Grill. She is currently a co-owner and is involved in day to day operations. Roberto Lopez , her son, is also a co-owner and helps her run the business. Rita is a very traditional woman and speaks some English but prefers Spanish. Roberto Lopez helps to organize many business ventures and employee related issues. Roberto is younger and was raised in the United States but he learned a lot about his culture from Rita. They are both very different individuals but they're similar in their passion for Mexican culture. They provide the perfect balance to help manage the overall business.
Rita Pimentel is a hard working woman with strong leadership skills. She represents the courage and warmth of latin women everywhere.
