To say the Abarca family is involved with operating Lila’s Mexican Restaurant in Pearland would be an understatement. Of the 26 employees, six are not related, but they still have become part of the family, Linda Abarca said.
Linda’s father, Abel Abarca, owns the longtime Mexican restaurant on Hwy. 35. She said several family members work alongside her at Lila’s, including her siblings, cousins, husband and daughter.
The food service industry runs in the family. Linda said relatives also own restaurants in San Antonio, Alvin, Seabrook and Texas City.
Linda’s parents were cooks at Lila’s under the original owners, who opened the Mexican restaurant in 1978. Abel took ownership of Lila’s around 1989 after the owner moved back home to the Rio Grande Valley.
“[My dad] started as a cook then he stayed with the business,” Linda said. “From then on, he’s been the owner.”
Abel got his first taste of the food business while in Mexico.
“My dad was the first man in Celaya, Guanajuato, to start selling street tacos,” Linda said. “Now, you go over to Celaya and there’s tacos everywhere.”
Several family members still sell tacos in Mexico, she said.
Many of the patrons at Lila’s are regular customers, Linda said. She said there is also a group who comes in every day of the week for coffee and breakfast.
Although the restaurant has its breakfast and lunch crowds during the week, Veronica Abarca said the weekends are busy from open to close. The parking lot is often full of cars.
“[The restaurant] is small,” Linda said. “It’s kind of hard to get a lot of people in here, but somehow we manage to do it.”
Much of the menu at Lila’s is authentic Mexican cuisine, but there are some Tex-Mex dishes, Linda said. Some of the most popular items are the breakfast tacos, migas, and Tacos a la Lila—an original dish by Abel that combines beef fajita, bacon and shredded cheese.
Lila’s homemade ranchero sauce is a customer favorite as well. Customers request the sauce for a variety of meals, and Veronica describes the flavor as tomato-based with a little jalapeno kick.
Linda said she plans on working at Lila’s for the rest of her life. The Pearland native said she is happy to stay close to the area where she grew up.
“I think if we do ever happen to make it bigger and have to move, we don’t want to go very far from here,” she said.
Lila's Mexican Restaurant
2704 S. Main St., Pearland 281-997-1288 www.facebook.com/lilasmexicanrestaurant Hours: Mon. 7 a.m.-3 p.m., Tue.-Sun. 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
