Mexican food restaurant expands in the East Valley

MESA — Dennis Sirrine was fed up with the vagaries of the housing market. The homebuilder left California 16 years ago and returned to his hometown of Mesa, where the Sirrine family name is part of East Valley history.

Sirrine and his wife, Liz, wanted to open up their own restaurant. She wanted French cuisine; Dennis wanted Mexican. They decided on Mexican and traveled through Mexico, exploring for and experimenting with various recipes.

Today, the couple runs a highly successful operation in El Rancho de Tia Rosas, and East Valley expansion plans are on the way.

“Were branching out to let people have the luxury of having us close to their home,” says Dennis Sirrine’s son, Nick, who helps manage the restaurant. “We have been in the heart of Mesa, we are going to be in the heart of Gilbert and eventually we plan on expanding to Chandler/Tempe area.”

TACOS COME FIRST

It all began when Dennis Sirrine a construction worker building homes in California decided to leave the housing market because it was so “up” and “down.” It ended up leaving Dennis financially unstable; he returned to his hometown Mesa with Liz.

The Sirrines’ dream of a Mexican restaurant made its first mark as a taco shop on Mesa and University drives, where they sold tacos for 59 cents in 1991. They called it Rosas, after Dennis’s aunt.

“It wasn’t until they started serving their food on china and received a liquor license that their business took off,” says Clay Eagar, Tia Rosa’s manager.

The Sirrines eventually sold Rosas in 1999 in the hopes of building their own free-standing Mexican restaurant. They took a year off after selling Rosas and traveled through Mexico again, and purchasing decorations for their new restaurant along the way.

After taking a year off to plan the new venture, the Dennis and Liz Sirrine purchased 4.5 acres of land in Mesa. Dennis Sirrine used his construction background to form a crew and built The Taqueria adjacent take-out restaurant and El Rancho de Tia Rosas.

SIRRINES WANT THE WHOLE ENCHILADA

For the new restaurant, the Sirrines got more of their family members involved. Dennis’s father, Gal Sirrine, a landscape architect, developed and took care of the grounds while his mother, Nola Sirrine, an interior designer, laid out the inside of the restaurant.

Today, El Rancho de Tia Rosas offers an extensive menu – from cheese crisps to their chicken mole that contains 22 spices. Prices ranging from $5 to $14 per plate.

“I think our seafood tacos our one of our most popular items,” Eagar says. “We have four kinds: shrimp, salmon, halibut and crab. Our carne asada platter is also really popular, and our salmon enchiladas with avocado sauce set us apart from other places.”

El Rancho de Tia Rosas is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The Sirrines plan on opening their Gilbert location early next year. It will be located on the northeast corner of Higley and Guadalupe roads.

“It will be an identical replica of the current restaurant, but it has more patio seating then our location and we will possibly be open on Mondays,” Eagar says.

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