A new Mexican restaurant is set to open in James City County as soon as the owners finish hammering out paperwork with the county.
La Michoacana Restaurant will occupy the space once held by Centro Havana Cafe, a Cuban restaurant near Maurizio’s in Festival Marketplace. The grand opening should be the first weekend in April, though owner Juan Ramirez hopes to have a soft opening sometime in March.
Festival Marketplace is a small shopping center near Busch Gardens on Pocahontas Trail. Also in that shopping center is Maurizio’s Italian Restaurant.
Ramirez said in addition to Mexican food, the restaurant will feature 37 flavors of ice cream, including tequila, rum, butter pecan and tres leches.
“We are going to be the only one in the area who sells ice cream like this,” Ramirez said. Other items on the menu at the sit-down restaurant include chicken with mango habanero sauce and burritos topped with chipotle sauce.
Those who want to hop in for a quick dessert don’t have to deal with the muss and fuss of being waited on at a table, as the restaurant will offer counter service for the ice cream.
“It’s a combination restaurant and ice cream place,” Ramirez said, “which is new in this area. Nobody else has it.”
This will be the second La Michoacana ice cream parlor— the first, also owned by Ramirez, is in Richmond. That location is not a restaurant, however.
“We opened in Richmond around five years ago,” Ramirez said. “People there have responded well to these flavors of ice cream. They love it.”
Ramirez said he is in the process of applying for a liquor license from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control so that he can install a full-service bar in the restaurant.
