Owners plan to open by January

By Jonathan Cook
Turley Publications Reporter

STURBRIDGE - Today’s chilly economic climate is enough to cause most restaurant owners to cry, “ay, caramba!”
But for the owners of Holden’s Playa Del Carmen Mexican restaurant, chili is an ingredient and business is growing.
Having been open in Holden only about a year, Jorge and Carmen Scaffidi are on the verge of opening a second location – in the former Rom’s building.
After applying new paint and new carpeting, Carmen said, “You won’t recognize it. It’s completely different.”
The menu will certainly be different. Instead of fried chicken and spaghetti with meatballs, the restaurant will feature authentic Mexican cuisine. “Everything fresh” will be the mantra in the kitchen, she said. “Nothing from a can.”
Fresh guacamole will be prepared right on the table, said Carmen.
She says even the corn chips will be homemade and served with fresh salsa as soon as a customer sits.
To wash it down, Carmen said, there will be 50 different kinds of tequila to chose from. “We are famous for our Margarita’s,” she said.
Even though the Scaffidi’s are relatively new to the restaurant business – the Holden location is their first – “We learned, when you have a passion for something you learn,” Carmen said.
That passion led the couple to search for a second location. She and Jorge quickly settled on Sturbridge, citing a lack of competing Mexican eateries and a “perfect” location in Rom’s.
She said their interest began in October with a signed lease and a visit to the Planning Board. Soon the hiring will begin. Carmen said 15 to 20 new hires will be needed.
The take-out counter will be utilized, she said, hoping to draw “working people for something fast,” something like a burrito, which Carmen says is a complete meal. “You get everything together in a burrito. You get a salad, beans, rice, beef,” she said.
As work has progressed, Carmen said, she has begun to learn about the famous restaurant that used to occupy the space. “People come from far away and say ‘Oh, Rom’s is closed?’ They didn’t know.”
Thursday nights will feature wandering tableside Mariachi. “It’s romantic,” she said. Also, “children love it.”
The new restaurant will share the existing parking lot with a new gas station convenience store, which will reduce the seating capacity from what Rom’s used to have.
But that’s okay for the Scaffidi’s. Their new operation is still bigger than the Holden location and Carmen is very excited to be opening soon. “You have to come and see it,” she said.