El Charro celebrates 50 great years

Owner says family feel has helped keep the restaurant and bar in business for a half-century.MONTROSE -- For 50 years it has been the Mexican restaurant filled with cheerful patrons, where everyone knows your name.

Established during the post-war boom, El Charro has survived economic busts and booms to celebrate 50 years in business.

“It’s because of the small-town atmosphere of Montrose,” said Howard Hirdler, a 21-year patron of El Charro who spends two days a week at the restaurant near the corner of Verdugo Road and Honolulu Avenue. “It kind of has a Cheers-like atmosphere, where everybody knows you and you know everybody and see your friends and acquaintances without really planning on it.” Established as a six-seat Mexican diner by Grace and John Chagola on Honolulu Avenue in 1955, the family used Grace’s recipes to earn a foothold in town. “It was just a little rinky-dink thing,” said Deborah Beljan, who bought the restaurant about five years ago. “You had to wait for your seat. It was a six-seat indoor counter like you saw in the 1950s movies.”

By the late 1960s, the family moved to a bigger spot across the street at 3741 N. Verdugo Road.

A bar was added and the restaurant expanded, Beljan said.

“I worked here for 10 years before I bought it,” Beljan said. “I started as a bartender and now I’m the owner,” she said.

“I was the bartender and I still work three nights a week behind the bar. Almost everybody who comes to work here stays for the longest time. They turn into ‘lifers’,” she added.

It is the stability and family feel that keeps them there. Beljan has about 16 employees and half of them have worked there for more than 10 years.

“We still use Grace’s old recipes,” Beljan said. “The customers are really nice and it is comfortable. There are not a lot of surprises and you see the same people so often. We’re going on our fourth generation of customers now.

“I have customers who were babies who have babies.”

The restaurant survived because its menu is always in fashion for food-lovers and embraced by a small-town community.

“It really is good quantity, quality and value,” Beljan said. You get all that bang for your buck. It’s fresh everyday and it doesn’t come from a plastic wrap. It’s all authentic,” she said. “And everybody knows everybody. It’s like a little slice of Mayberry.”

El Charro offers 28 combination plates and still offers Taco Tuesday, a tradition that started 16 years ago. The Chagolas moved to California from Texas and El Charro literally means The Cowboy, Beljan said.

“It’s a Tex-Mex style. The chili rellenos are all hand-made and our chili verde is a best-seller and one of Grace’s original recipes,” Beljan said. “Chili Colorado is another original recipe and the salsa is made fresh every day.”

Beljan bought the restaurant from Grace and John Chagolas’ son, David Chagola, who for several years talked about selling it.

“I asked if I could have the first opportunity at it,” Beljan said. “I love to cook and entertain and this is something I really like to do. This is like my house now and I have a constant party going here. I knew it was something that was and is successful and I really love the place.”

It worked out well for both parties: David Chagola lives in Hawaii and Beljan is still successful, celebrating the restaurant’s 50th anniversary Sunday with mariachis and drawings for prizes.

“It could not have gone better,” Beljan said. We had just the exact right amount of people. It flowed and rotated, the mariachis were good and I had a big cake brought in,” Beljan said. “The customers really appreciated it and everybody pitched in.”

Debbie Duffield worked at El Charro for 26 years.