NEW ULM — Ôrale Authentic Mexican opened its doors on September 12, 2020, at its location on 1627 S. Broadway.

The Mexican restaurant was extremely popular from the first day. Owner Dulce Guerra said describes the menu at Órale as very authentic. She said “They come from my grandma, my great-grandma and my mother’s recipes. The tamales recipe we use is my grandmother’s so it is very authentic.”

Guerra said their most popular menu item is the Loaded Burrito and the Birria Tacos. Burritos are universally popular in the New Ulm area. The Birria Taco is popular because the tortilla is dipped in a broth and fried before the Birria meat is added.

“It’s juicy, it’s crunchy, it’s cheesy and then you dip taco in the broth itself,” she said. “There is a lot of flavor in that taco.”

The menu was not the only thing inspired by family. Guerra said it was her mother who wanted to start the business.

“Ever since I could remember, it has been her dream to have a restaurant,” Guerra said. Guerra’s whole family has experience working at other restaurants and the idea to open one has been a long-term goal. This last year, the time was right to start the business.

First, the building at 1627 S. Broadway became available. After touring the space she signed the papers to take over.

Guerra said they took over the building in the middle of the summer. The family was aware that with COVID-19 this was not the perfect time to open a restaurant, but Guerra said in their mind it was now or never.

The turnaround on signing papers to take over the building to opening for business was only two months. Guerra said no remodeling was necessary, but there were many touch-ups. Physically, the interior of the building has not changed significantly.

The biggest hold-up was the kitchen hood. The building had not served as a restaurant for over 10 years. The previous kitchen hood was designed for pizzas. Finding an appropriate hood took an extra month. Guerra said the electric work took time, but Paul’s Electric was able to do the hard work, ensuring the business was open in September.

Guerra will never forget the first-day Órale was open. She still has flashbacks about that day because the number of customers they received was overwhelming. Ôrale was forced to close early on its first day at 3 p.m. because the kitchen could not keep up with the demand for food. Ôrale aims to have ordered take five or seven minutes, but on that first day, it was taking 30 minutes.

Guerra said it is great to be that busy, but they were not prepared to that busy; especially during an ongoing pandemic. Business remained crazy for the next several days, but they were able to prepare.

Guerra said they hired extra help and began prepping more food in advance. Things stayed busy, but the kitchen was prepared to handle it. Even with the indoor dining shutdown in November, Ôrale did great with take-out service.

Take-out service is extremely popular at Ôrale. Guerra said one of her goals is to incorporate a drive-thru. There is enough space available for it. She can’t promise the drive-in will be available within the next year, but someday.

Looking to the future, Guerra wants to eventually use their large parking lot for a celebration or customer appreciation meal.

“It would just be something fun,” she said. “Maybe have some mariachi bands out there.”

This of course is COVID pending. The celebration will need to wait until after restrictions have been lifted, but it is a plan on the horizon.

Guerra said the best part of running the restaurant is seeing the reaction of people enjoying the food.

“You are always nervous when you go into a new restaurant,” she said. “When you see them sit down, turn around and say ‘wow! this is good food, I hope you stay open for a year,’ that’s the best reward.” In the short time, Ôrale has been open, they have acquired regular patrons and that is a positive feeling.

Ôrale is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed Sundays.