El Palomino Off at a Gallop

Most of us are lucky to figure out our ambitions by age 25, let alone achieve them. But Gerardo Anaya isn’t like most of us in that regard. At 25, he owns two successful businesses that employ more than 130 people. And if the steady growth of his most recent venture, El Palomino Nite Club & Restaurant, is any indication of Anaya’s business potential, Los Angeles will hear from him for many years to come.

Open only nine months, El Palomino quickly has become one of the most happening Latin nightspots in town. As with most legitimate successes, El Palomino grew through word of mouth, not a public relations campaign.

“I’m young,” Anaya said with a modest shrug, sitting in El Palomino’s back office Friday night while the walls throbbed with the bass drum and tuba of a banda group. “I know the music people like; I know what they want, because it’s what I like and want.”

When Anaya took over the 300-capacity venue in Huntington Park--the upper floor of a commercial building--it was a struggling merengue and salsa club at the end of a block punctuated by taco joints, lucky to pull in 50 people a night.

With a stylish make-over, a talented chef, and a youthful mix of live norteno and banda groups with hip-hop and house deejays, El Palomino now draws thousands each week.

A Mix of Mexican Country and Hip-Hop

The spacious room is understated, with a wide dance floor and dozens of tables with white tablecloths. Cocktail waitresses wear sparkly red short-shorts and halter tops, uniforms designed by Anaya.

The crowd is young, from 18 to 30-ish. Guys wear everything from the conservative (expensive Stetson hats and elaborate leather jackets) to Chicano hip (elegant slacks with an oversized guayabera shirt, cowboy boots, and a goatee) to the casual (jeans and T-shirts). Women mostly wear dresses, short and tight, though hot pants with scarf shirts are also common. Many here say they grew up in Los Angeles, listening to hip-hop like everyone else, but recently fell in love with banda and norteno because, as one man said, “you can dance in couples, and it makes you proud to be Mexican.”

The resulting mix of Mexican country and deep hip-hop is interesting, and speaks of new musical hybrid possibilities. El Palomino’s DJ Diablo explores this frontier nightly, mixing banda with merengue and hip-hop, and norteno with rap.

It’s precisely this mixing of the country with the urban, and the folksy with the glitzy, that appears to make El Palomino successful, whether in its decor, music or food.

Anaya said he always wanted to own a nightclub, and everything just fell into place, almost magically. For instance, a muralist named Baltazar appeared at the club, offering his services. The result is a pastoral scene with rolling hills and running horses that covers every interior wall of the club. Anaya says the horses make his Mexican-born patrons “feel right at home.”

Anaya’s parents were born in Jalisco, and though Anaya was born and raised in Los Angeles, he says the love of Mexico, Mexican music, and family are driving forces. It seems to be true. After all, how many other nightclubs open on Sunday afternoons for family dinner, featuring a strolling mariachi group?

El Palomino’s initial funding came from the family business, Marty’s Cutting, a Vernon factory owned by Anaya and his three older brothers, Martin, Francisco, and Alfred. Younger sister Raquel, 21, is employed as El Palomino’s accountant and office manager.

Anaya said he found El Palomino’s secret weapon, outstanding chef Juan Carlos Herrera, at another local restaurant. Chopping seafood and vegetables in the hot kitchen last weekend, Herrera said he studied to be a chef in Mexico City, and worked at five-star hotels there, including the Hotel Diplomatico Porfirillo Diaz.

Herrera’s menu is upscale, featuring mostly steak and seafood, and his tangy cold shrimp ceviche is truly some of the best in Los Angeles. An elegant vibe permeates the club, and it’s not unusual for patrons to order lobster or $160 bottles of champagne.

“I really wanted the food to be something special for people,” Herrera said. “Even though we have Mexican music, you won’t find tacos here. People can get tacos anywhere.”

BE THERE

El Palomino Nite Club & Restaurant, 6901 Pacific Ave., Huntington Park. Open Thursday to Saturday, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday 1 to 6 p.m. $15 to $25. Women free before 9 p.m. Full menu. (323) 582-6505.