Cielito Lindo Mexican Restaurant Waitress and hostess Ruth Osornio serves Cochinita Pibil at Cielito Lindo. She said she has worked at the restaurant since March.[/caption] Tucked into a Cedar Park shopping center, the small Cielito Lindo Mexican Restaurant is packed with family history.

Restaurant Manager Roxana Alvarez said her father, Eusebio Alvarez, decided to open the restaurant in March 2015 after her brother, Antonio, died.

“[My brother’s] plan was always to open a restaurant with my dad,” Roxana said. “We wanted to do that for him.”

Roxana said the family decided to honor Antonio by naming the restaurant after his favorite Spanish folk song.

The family history is also painted on the walls. Roxana said she chose the paint scheme because it reminded her of where she grew up in Mexico. The chairs and tables are imported from Guadalajara, Mexico.

But the main focus for Roxana is the food, she said. The menu is based on interior Mexican food, instead of Tex-Mex, and the family tried to recreate many of her grandmother’s recipes, Roxana said.

“We make tamales very traditionally like my grandma,” she said. “Ours are almost as good as hers.”

Cielito Lindo Mexican Restaurant Tamales de Chile Colorado ($2.25) are filled with a family recipe of pork in red chili. Vegetarian tamales are also available.[/caption]

Eusebio brought 30 years of experience to the restaurant after working at Fonda San Miguel in Austin, she said. He and Roxana run the kitchen, creating popular dishes, such as the Tamales de Chile Colorado and the pork-based Cochinita Pibil.

“We love to cook, and we love to feed people,” Roxana said. “A restaurant is a perfect fit for our family.”

Cielito Lindo Mexican Restaurant Restaurant Manager Roxana Alvarez said the paint scheme reminds her of where she grew up in Mexico.[/caption]

She said the restaurant focuses on fresh and natural ingredients, and everything on the menu is made from scratch. Roxana said the staff is happy to substitute ingredients or replace a dish in order to make sure every customer enjoys his or her meal. The menu also offers vegetarian and gluten-free dishes.

After moving from Austin to Leander, Roxana said her family felt comfortable and familiar with Cedar Park.

“Everybody here is so nice and friendly,” she said. “I had no restaurant experience before we started this so I had to learn as we went, and everyone was so patient.”

The community was involved in decorating the restaurant, Roxana said, and guests offered to line the walls with paintings and photography.

To put a personal spin on each meal, guests are able to bring their own beer or wine to Cielito Lindo, which does not yet have a liquor license.

For Roxana, the main goal is that everyone leaves feeling like they have just visited their grandmother’s house.

“When you go to my grandma’s house you have to leave happy and leave full,” she said. “So we made that our motto here.”