On a Friday afternoon in late August, the wait staff at La Tapata saw a steady stream of families and single diners passing through the front door in search of quality Jalisco-style dishes.

Restaurant Manager Celeste Melendez said the restaurant's early years weren't nearly as fruitful.

"It took us a while to get where we're at now—maybe three years—to finally get it fully established," Celeste said.

Celeste said the restaurant was launched in October 2009 by a trio of owners—Juan Hernandez and brothers Alvaro and Livorio Melendez. Celeste, who is married to Livorio, said the building's history as a space for unsuccessful restaurants likely played a role in the community's initially cool reception to La Tapata.

"There's still people who come by and think it's the old owners, even though we've been here for [more than] four years now," Celeste said.

These days the restaurant stays busy day in and day out as its staff of 14 employees serve up classic Mexican food entrees, such as carne asada (grilled beef skirt steak), fajitas (beef, chicken or mixed) and a range of enchiladas (ground beef to mushroom to shrimp).

The restaurant also offers a seafood menu. Diners can choose from Caldo de Mariscos, which is a seafood soup featuring fish, octopus and shrimp ($7.49 small, $8.99 large), Filete ala Plancha, or grilled catfish ($9.55) or Camarones ala Plancha, which features a dozen grilled shrimp on a bed of onions and bell peppers ($9.99).

Alvaro's son, Javier, also helps manage the restaurant and said seafood soup and shrimp cocktail are two of the more popular choices on the seafood menu.

"Other places around here don't offer [seafood]," Javier said. "It helps us reach a different clientele."

He said the restaurant added ceviche, or fresh raw fish, tostadas to the menu after customers began to request it regularly.

"We would make [ceviche tostadas] for people if they asked for it, but it wasn't on the menu," Javier said. "We added it to the menu at the beginning of the year, and it's been doing really good."

Breakfast is the busiest time for La Tapata, Javier said. In addition to breakfast tacos, the restaurant also offers omelets, chorimigas—chorizo sausage mixed with migas—and barbacoa by the pound.

Although La Tapata features a full-service bar, margaritas are still the restaurant's best seller. The restaurant began selling two new margarita flavors this summer: cucumber and watermelon. Regularly priced at $6.99, the eatery offers an all-day special price of $5 each for large margaritas on Fridays.

In October, the restaurant will mark its fifth anniversary in Leander. With 26 tables in the restaurant and an additional 12 tables out on its patio, La Tapata is positioned to grow as its clientele base continues to expand.

"The growth of Leander has helped—all the new construction, people come and eat, more people moving in—it's good for the business," Javier said.

Happy Hour

The restaurant offers happy hour specials from 4–7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Domestic beers are $2, and imported beers are $2.50. House margaritas are $3 (small) and $5 (large).

La Tapatia, 109 N. US 183, Leander, 512-259-5019, www.latapatialeander.com, Hours: Mon.–Sat. 7 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m.–9 p.m.