Mi Rancho owner Tony Garcia grateful for community’s support

Published 8:50 am Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Chef Tony Garcia has worked in the restaurant business for the past 30 years, and in those years he said he has never encountered a community more supportive of local businesses than what he has experienced in DeRidder.

Garcia opened his Mexican bar and grill restaurant, Mi Rancho, in 2011, fulfilling his family’s dreams of owning their own business in the local area. He went on to open two more locations in Texas, in Beaumont and Port Arthur, but he said the DeRidder location has always been something special.

In 2020, Hurricane Laura wreaked havoc on the restaurant at 701 Mahlon St., and Garcia was forced to demolish the building and completely rebuild from the ground up.

He said were it not for the amazing support his family has received, it may have been far more difficult.

“I’ve worked in this business a long time and I’ve worked in different restaurants during those years. I’ve never seen anything like the support that this community has given us, from the people who live here to the city leaders. Everyone is so involved and they are always asking us what do we need or how can they help. You just don’t see that in other places,” Garcia stated.

Since its opening, Mi Rancho was embraced by not only the people of DeRidder, but from the surrounding area. Garcia said it was common for customers to drive from Lake Charles or further to dine in his restaurant, and he said he believes that has just as much to do with the food as the way people felt when they walked through the restaurant’s doors.

“The way I do business is very personal. This is a family business, but I treat everyone else like family, too. I try to always listen to what people want and do my best to give that to them,” he said.

During the first three years of opening, Garcia said he worked heavily in the kitchen tweaking his recipes based upon feedback from customers. Over those years he said he and his nephews continued to work on different recipes until they were confident that people were truly enjoying their meals..

“After that, I kind of moved out of the kitchen and I became the busboy, the waiter, the cashier; I did whatever I could to be a face that welcomed people into our restaurant and took care of anything they needed. I enjoyed greeting everyone and recognizing the faces that come in. I enjoy that just as much as being in the kitchen,” Garcia stated.

And it is that personal touch and community support that solidified Garcia’s decision to rebuild.

“This is our home. DeRidder is our home and we couldn’t imagine living anywhere else after all this,” he said.

Work has begun on rebuilding Mi Rancho, but it will open under a new name. The new restaurant will share the name of Garcia’s other restaurants, “El Viejo Tony”, when its doors open for the first time this fall. The building will be brand new and much larger than it was before, but Garcia said that it will still be the heart of Mi Rancho.

“Every restaurant has its own style and Mi Rancho was no different. It is how we started and it’s a part of our history, so we plan on putting something special in the new building to honor its memory,” he stated.

Garcia said he hopes to have the new restaurant open by November.