At the beginning of 2023, Cristhian and Shanie Valdez took their first step in their dream of a Springfield restaurant empire by opening El Cafecito Coffee Shop.
This week, the married couple takes the leap of opening a second restaurant, just shy of a year-and-a-half after El Cafecito opened.
El Escondite, located at 2528 S. Campbell Ave., Unit A, will host a grand opening celebration May 4, said co-owner Cristhian Valdez. Translating to “the hideaway,” this nook of a restaurant and bar aims to bring a taste of Mexican street food and unique cocktails to Springfield, with an emphasis on including the whole family.
The restaurateurs came up with the idea because they wanted a family-friendly hangout where kids could entertain themselves and parents could be entertained. El Escondite includes a small play area for children, Mexican snacks for the whole family and uniquely crafted cocktails for the adults.
“We don't have (somewhere) where we can go in Springfield and be relaxed and talk, and the kids can do something else,” Cristhian Valdez said at the restaurant in early May. “We came with this idea to make it family friendly.”
Mexican snacks and ceviche
At the heart of the menu will be two items: Aguachile, a cold, spicy Mexican dish with shrimp marinated in a serrano-lime mixture and topped with vegetables. And then there's the ceviche, which is kind of like a shrimp chili with lime, Valdez said.
The restaurant plans to keep these two dishes authentic with a twist. While many places in the U.S. use boiled shrimp, El Escondite will use a more traditional method for its dish, Valdez said.
“Cut the shrimp, squeeze the lime,” Valdez said. “When it's covered with lime, you let it sit for like 30 or 35 minutes so the shrimp can cook on lime.”
El Escondite will have two types of each of the famous Mexican street foods. There will be the Aguachile Negro as well as a Green Aguachile, complete with shrimp with lime, cucumbers, cilantro, onion and garlic.
“We put all the spice together to make it taste really good,” Valdez said.
For ceviche, the restaurant will offer two variations. The first is Valdez's mother's own recipe, aptly named after her, Dores Ceviche. The second comes from the sea, Ceviche del Mar, complete with shrimp and octopus.
Ceviche del Mar is a “ceviche that you've barely seen around here,” Valdez said. “The combination of the octopus and the shrimp makes another taste” completely.
There's also the Botana, which comes with house-made cecina, or dried beef, dried shrimp, cucumbers, peanuts, sausage and a homemade sauce.
Then there's what Valdez essentially calls a Mexican fruit salad, named Bionico. The dish is a bowl of fruit — apples, papayas, melons and strawberries with a special cream sauce that's a mix of sour cream, yogurt and vanilla. It's topped off with coconut shavings and nuts.
And for the kids, the restaurant makes its own ice-pops, with real fruit for flavoring.
The ice-pops are all natural, “it's only color from the fruit,” Valdez said.
Uniquely-crafted Spanish-themed cocktails
One of the most exciting features of El Escondite is the cocktail menu, Valdez said. He and his team made it from scratch and all the names have a dose of Spanish. The cocktails will range from about $8 to $14, Valdez said.
There's the Margarita Coco Azul, which is like a combination of creamy mango ice cream with pineapple and rum. For a sugary-sweet finish, it's topped off with a candy chamoy stick.
The co-owner's personal favorite is named after the region he was born in. The Guadalajaran has Jalisco Tequila Blanco and Mezcal Illegal Joven, along with freshly-squeezed grapefruit, orange and lime. Served in a clay bowl and adorned with an array of fresh fruit, it's a fun presentation of Valdez's home city, Guadalajara, in western Mexico.
“It's kind of cool because it's served on a plate, like a bowl,” Valdez said.
There's the Oaxacan Swizzle, featuring Espadin Mezcal from the heart of Oxaca, a city in southern Mexico. With a dash of rich chocolate bitters, it makes for a unique but balanced taste, Valdez said.
The mezcal and bitters make “it taste kind of like chocolate smoke,” he said.
And of course, the business pair had to pay homage to their first company on the cocktail menu. The El Cafecito is a local brew espresso martini, featuring Kettle One Vodka.
A hangout spot that hides its full size
The Valdezes are leasing the new restaurant space, which has about 1,700 square feet, Valdez said. The pair came up with calling it “the hideaway” because the space is narrow in it's front, but opens up to the small kitchen, bar and service tables in the back. It's quietly tucked in the Old Towne Center, a skip down the road from El Cafecito, which is located at 2462 S. Campbell Ave.
The restaurant, above all, aims to be family-friendly, and that means the adults get to have fun, too. There's a foosball table and ping pong table in the front half of the hangout spot. In the back, the child's play area includes games, puzzles and interactive toys, complete with tables close by for parents.
El Escondite will have three full-time employees to start, Valdez said. The grand opening May 4 will double as a Cinco de Mayo celebration. The party begins at 11 a.m. and will close down at 9 p.m., and the restaurant will feature specials, like margarita flights, and will likely include discounts, Valdez said.
“We expect it's going to be a big deal Saturday,” Valdez said.
The restaurateurs don't plan to stop at just two establishments, Valdez said. The business pair are already making plans for a third, but haven't narrowed down its focus quite yet. It could be a second El Cafecito location, as well as a Mexican breakfast joint.
“It's our goal to have more businesses,” Valdez said. “It's a plan to open a third for sure, but it's going to be different.”
With the new space, the business pair are really trying to welcome people from all over the area with all different backgrounds, Valdez said. He wants to show Springfield the comfort food and culture from his home city, and deliver an unrivaled spot for family fun.
“We made this to show people that we can bring the Mexican culture” to “all the community in Springfield,” Valdez said. “Everything that is here, we're making with the heart.”
