Popular SLO County Mexican restaurant moves after 42 years. Here’s what has changed
When popular Mexican restaurant Maya moved to a new location in Morro Bay, some of its customers panicked.
“They couldn’t find us,” owner Jennifer Cadena said. “They’d call to find out what happened and where we were.”
About three months ago, Maya left its home of 42 years, 2490 Main St. in Morro Bay, for a new location at 560 Embarcadero, at the south end of that busy waterfront area.
The move means a change of scenery and a modified menu for the restaurant, which plans to hold a grand opening at the end of February.
“We moved because the lease expired,” Cadena, 30, explained.
Also, with a drug and alcohol addiction recovery center poised to open at the former Rodeway Inn property at 2460 Main St., “It couldn’t have been a better decision than to relocate,” she added. “It was important to our restaurant because we want people to feel safe, and not have all that extra commotion coming from the rehab.”
According to Cadena, keeping customers happy is critical to Maya’s success.
“We have a great reputation in a small beach town filled with retirees and tourists coming to check out lovely Morro Bay,” the restaurant owner said.
SLO County business owner has family ties to food
Cadena’s family ties to Maya and the restaurant business go back generations.
Her grandparents Mariana and Javier Cadena opened Maya in Santa Barbara on Feb. 16, 1966. Then their son Francisco “Frank” Cadena took over the business.
It was still going when Frank Cadena and another son — Heladio “Lalo” Cadena, Jennifer Cadena’s father — partnered to open the Morro Bay Maya in August 1980, after having had their own separate restaurants in Isla Vista and Goleta.
Eventually, the family’s restaurant empire expanded to include more than 25 eateries from Santa Paula to King City.
Mariana Cadena, Jennifer’s cousin, launched Las Cazulelas Restaurant & Tequila Bar in Nipomo.
Frank Cadena’s son, Javier, opened a chain of restaurants named Chinos, Jennifer Candena said, and her uncle’s daughter Teresa took over Maya in Santa Maria.
“We all grew up in the restaurant business as children and want to continue the legacy,” Cadena said. “When you grow up in the restaurant business, it’s hard to shake it and do something different. It is a way of life.”
In addition to working at the now-shuttered Vallarta Mexican Restaurant in Pismo Beach, she’s worked at Maya in Morro Bay for 14 years.
Cadena has been Maya’s owner for six years, ever since her father sold it to her “for a quarter a day,” her 74-year-old dad said.
Neither of them wanted to say how much she’d paid for the restaurant, but they implied that the gesture was more symbolic than financial.
Cadena even met her husband while working at Maya.
Ernesto Cadena, 37, has been the chef at Maya in Morro Bay for two decades. He also helped Jennifer Cadena’s brother Javier open up Chinos in San Luis Obispo.
When he and Jennifer Cadena began dating, she recalled, “My brother reassured me that he was a great man and still continued to care for his family in Mexico.”
Cadena’s husband “was always seen as the man in charge of the kitchen, but never an owner,” she said. “He became the owner overnight and little by little he is growing into his new role.”
Now their two children — Barbara, 7, and Maxwell, 10 — are following in their parents’ footsteps. “The children help with paperwork and bussing tables at closing time,” their mom said.
“As a child I knew deep down that I would always follow the legacy no matter what happened,” she said. “When everyone else is on holiday we are busy. Once everyone goes home, that is our time to enjoy. As a kid, I understood this perfectly, as do my children.”
What changed with Mexican restaurant’s move?
Maya’s new location is away from some of the hustle and bustle of downtown Morro Bay and the more northerly portions of the Embarcadero. The restaurant is close to the Morro Bay Yacht Club, Tidelands Park and the public boat launch area.
“During the summer, we will be busy due to location and food quality,” Cadena said. “But during the winter, we already have our regulars that will continue to support us. Foot traffic from the surrounding areas and hotels will keep us busy all year long.”
According to Cadena, the restaurant is in the process of redoing its menus. “They will be done before the grand opening,” she said.
She said Maya will be adding more fish to its offerings to reflect its new ocean-oriented location.
Only one item, a crab enchilada, will be dropped, because the cost of real crab is too high and using artificial crab isn’t an option now that the restaurant is on the waterfront.
The restaurant’s lunch and dinner menus combine tradition with innovation. Offerings include albondigas, enchiladas, tamales, flautas, tacos, fajitas and chiles rellenos, as well as egg dishes, burgers and sandwiches.
In a city of almost 11,000 people that has at least eight Mexican restaurants, “Maya stands out because we have menudo daily and offer all levels of spice,” Cadena said. “We are most popular for burrito grandes, chili rellenos and menudo, but since adding more fishy items, our halibut and mojarra may take its place as our most popular dish sold.”
Cadena said that, after a three-month delay, the California Alcohol and Beverage Control Board approved Maya’s liquor license transfer, allowing it to again sell wine and beer.
Cadena is happy to report that her regulars have followed Maya to its new location.
“We’ve seen customers’ children and grandchildren grow up, and they all still come in to eat here,” she said. “That’s so special.”
“We have been able to survive for so long due to consistency, flavor and a clean business,” Cadena continued. “We pride ourselves in truly getting to know our customers and taking their feedback seriously to make improvements along the way.”
Maya is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m, seven days a week. For more information, call 805-772-5312.
This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
