Fred’s Mexican Cafe in Huntington Beach celebrates 25th anniversary
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Elvis Presley would have turned 91 years old on Thursday.
This was something that Fred’s Mexican Cafe in Huntington Beach surely wanted to celebrate. A man who performs as “O.C. Elvis,” Scott Robertson, serenaded the crowd there on Thursday night.
“Fred’s is known for its eccentric vibe,” said manager Arika Nabors, who has been with the restaurant for four years. “We have a lot of traditional Mexican decor, but then we also have things that just make us weird. We have velvet Elvises and Marilyn Monroes all over the place. We’ve got giraffe print fabric as some of the wallpaper.”
Huntington Beach city officials gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Mexican restaurant, crowding into the space on the second floor at Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street to celebrate.
The Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce recognized Fred’s as a Legacy Business in the city, with a ribbon-cutting ritual done with a silver ribbon to commemorate 25 years.
Later in the evening, there was a jelly doughnut-eating contest to celebrate an Elvis favorite.
“A quarter-century, that’s nothing to laugh about,” Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon said. “That’s a lot of staying power. It shows their recipe for success. It’s a good story to point to, of a successful small business.
“It’s iconic, for sure. I grew up going here, had a lot of friends that worked here. A lot of good memories at Fred’s. My son’s preschool teacher, this is her favorite restaurant.”
Stephanie Wilson, the eatery’s managing partner, said it launched in Huntington Beach in July 2001, but promotions are being planned all year to celebrate its silver anniversary. She added that the restaurant is donating $10,000 each month of this year to a local charity or nonprofit, with the Kiwanis Club of Huntington Beach as the January recipient.
The idea of Fred’s was born in San Diego as an offshoot of the original restaurant concept of Moose McGillycuddy’s.
“Our [Moose McGillycuddy’s] store in Pacific Beach was more of a nightclub,” Wilson said. “It got out at 2 a.m. and everybody would run across the street to the taco truck. The idea from the president of the company at the time was to cut a hole in the wall, and sell tacos out of the wall at 2 a.m. too. And that was the first Fred’s. This [Huntington Beach location] was the first large sit-down Fred’s.”
Wilson joked that the location, which overlooks the Huntington Beach Pier and Pacific Ocean on one side and Main Street on the other side, was the worst office she could ask for.
Asked for the secret to staying alive in the restaurant business for 25 years, she had an answer ready.
“You’ve got to have epic tacos, and you’ve got to have great margaritas,” Wilson said. “Everybody says ‘location,’ but you’ve got to back it up.”
