BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:

Several years ago, while working in east Los Angeles, Sue Georgino used her trained palate to identify the genuine Mexican cuisine the neighborhood has become known for.

“I think it’s about how everything is freshly made salsas, freshly made guacamole,” said Georgino, community development director. “It’s not over-cheesed, and the beans taste like they are not coming out of a can.”

Add fresh, homemade tortillas, and the stage is set for a delicious meal, she said.

So when Don Cuco Restaurant announced plans to return to Georgino’s own backyard of downtown Burbank, she was thrilled.

The new location, which opened June 17 at 218 Orange Grove Ave., is just a stone’s throw away from the first Don Cuco that opened in 1969 at 3911 Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake off the Ventura (134) Freeway.

“The one off of Riverside makes you feel like it’s your neighborhood,” Georgino said. “You are comfortable there; you a get good meal and good service.”

And she doesn’t expect anything less from the newest Don Cuco. It is the restaurant’s sense of community that keeps her coming back again and again, she said.

“We wanted a mix of restaurants that have a more larger regional draw. And you want restaurants with a local draw,” she said, adding that Don Cuco’s had both.

“When we were trying to get the best mixes for downtown Burbank, I wanted a great quality Mexican restaurant that combines that neighborhood feel of Don Cuco with the quality feel of a good restaurant.”

The formula should make the restaurant’s opening in Burbank a relatively smooth transition, while drawing foot traffic to the area, officials said.

“Any time a restaurant of Don Cuco’s prominence, the fact they have already been a strong part of our restaurant picture for a number of years and have a local following, it’s a plus,” said Gary Olson, Burbank Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive.

“It enhances our overall grouping and mix we have downtown.”

According to its website, Don Cuco’s founder came to California in 1957.

Ten years later, the first restaurant was opened, with additional locations opening in Simi Valley, Acton and Glendale. What used to be office space, the new Don Cuco “adds another dimension to the downtown we didn’t have before,” said Business District Manager Gail Stewart.

Hector Ramirez, the restaurant’s afternoon manager, touts its bigger spaces, both for customers and his staff.

“We take care of the customers,” said Ramirez, who was in the middle of the lunch rush Tuesday. “That is my No. 1 priority.”

Ramirez has been working for Don Cuco for 10 years, first in Toluca Lake and now in Burbank.

He said he has received nothing but compliments about the new restaurant. He attributed the buzz to absence of frozen and microwaved foods at the restaurant.

“Everything is made fresh, from the carnitas to the chile verde to the guacamole,” he said.