Mexican eatery launches in Ozark

A new Mexican restaurant now open in Ozark will be familiar to those who have visited Casa Bella Mexican Cuisine in Springfield.

La Casita Mexican Cuisine opened Nov. 15 at 750 N. 18th St. near a Great Southern Bank branch, said Sergio Ruiz, who co-owns the eatery with longtime friend Martin Palma via Ozark Fenix LLC. The friends also own Casa Bella, which opened in late 2021 at 4610 S. Campbell Ave., followed by its second location that launched last year at 300 E. Battlefield Road.

While La Casita has a different name, its menu is similar to that of Casa Bella, Ruiz said. The original plan was to pursue a different concept for the Mexican restaurant in Ozark, he said. The reason was that the North 18th Street building – formerly a Rib Crib that shuttered – has a drive-thru.

“This was going to be a different challenge for us because we’ve never worked with a drive-thru before,” he said, adding the plan was to have a streamlined menu to eliminate food that would take longer to prepare. “At the end, we changed our mind. We cut a few things out of the menu of Casa Bella, but it is the same menu in general. We had already created the LLC and everything, so we’re happy with the results.”

Aside from burritos, tacos, enchiladas and quesadillas, the menu includes various dishes with steak, chicken and seafood as proteins. Options include carne asada, pollo mango habanero and ceviche.

Ruiz said an extensive renovation was required to transform the former barbecue restaurant into La Casita, noting startup costs were roughly $300,000.

“We redid the whole thing, pretty much,” he said, adding that included building a new bar in the 4,500-square-foot space. “When people walk in there, they hardly believe it’s the old Rib Crib.”

A staff of 10 currently works at the restaurant, but Ruiz said he wants to add around five more employees in the coming weeks.

A third restaurant wasn’t necessarily in the short-term plans for Ruiz, nor was Ozark as the location. But opportunity knocked when the building owner of the former Rib Crib, businessperson Jamie Tillman, approached him.

“She came to me and asked if I thought I could make it work. I was like, ‘I think I can.’ I wasn’t aiming for Ozark, but it just came out that way,” he said, declining to disclose lease terms.

A 15-year veteran of the restaurant industry, Ruiz said he doesn’t expect he’ll stop with three locations under his ownership.

“I’ll wait maybe a year and see how this location does and then I could probably start thinking of the next venture,” he said.