Mekenita Mexican Grille
Real Grande
By Jay Winchester
 There is clearly something about Mexican cuisine that attracts theAmerican palate. This simple fact combined with a rapidly growing Hispanic population helps account for the more than 25,300 Mexican restaurants doing $52 billion in business across this country. What’s unfortunate for many Americans is that the larger percentage of these restaurants serve a hybrid style of Mexican food that has been distilled down to a combination of cheeses, heavy sauces and deep frying that, while tasty, bears little resemblance to the authentic cuisine served south of our borders. In fact, one could argue that Mexican cooking is one of the most diverse and flavorful cuisines on the planet, given that each region of Mexico offers its own twists and variations on several classic culinary themes.
Chef Rand and Tiffani Packer, owners and operators of Mekenita’s Mexican Grille, are on a mission to introduce American taste buds to the authentic flavors of Mexico, while offering their own unique versions of traditional favorites. “We strive to offer those choosing to dine with us a fresh interpretation of Pacific Mexican Cuisine with a nuevo approach,” says Tiffani. “Our cuisine focuses on the Oaxacan (wa-hock-an) region of Mexico’s western coast while incorporating fresh fruits, vegetables and bold flavors. We are not Tex-Mex nor what the United States would consider traditional Mexican fare. We believe we offer a unique restaurant concept to Tampa Bay.”
She cites a few of the restaurant’s premier offerings. “Our Smoked Pork Tamales with Mole Negro are slammin’,” she exclaims. “And the Plantain Nachos with a Pineapple Papaya Salsa and Passion Fruit Sour Cream are one of our most popular items. Of course, there are our homemade Sangria and Aqua de Frescas.” The Aqua de Frescas are fresh fruit juices, the drinks of choice among native Mexicans, and are served the traditional way, ladled out of large containers. They even offer horchata, a rice drink that is a truly unique accompaniment to the smoky flavors and subtle heat of Mekenita’s fare.
Mekenita, located in Lutz at the intersection of North Dale Mabry Highway and Van Dyke Road, and the first of many the Packers hope to open, reflects the festive colors and bold flavors of Mexico. The couple worked alongside API(+) to create a concept offering patrons comfort and warmth from their very first glimpse. “Our logo is a butterfly signifying the incredible journey and transformation from the start of one thing into something else that is truly unique and beautiful,” says Tiffani. “The butterfly is referenced throughout our restaurant décor. The restaurant is full of artifacts from the Oaxacan region of Mexico, featuring a color scheme filled with burnt reds, rusty oranges and bright blues.”
Everything from the menu to the décor to how the staff interacts with customers has been carefully planned by the Packers. “When we say it’s fresh – we mean it,” says Chef Rand. “The items on our menu are created fresh daily and for the price point, we haven’t found a restaurant in town that can compete with us. We also believe that a restaurant exists because of the guests that frequent your business. Our team understands that, from the time a guest enters the front door, our singular goal is to make certain that guest becomes a regular. We are confident that the way our guests are treated and the cuisine they experience will set us apart from our competitors.”
Mekenita Mexican Grille offers exemplary catering services. “We can do anything from high end special events to simple office luncheons,” says Rand. “Tiffani’s background is in event planning, so we have fun putting our two skill sets together in creating amazing parties.” The restaurant offers a daily special Monday through Thursday from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., where the majority of the items on the menu are offered for $5.00, a price that includes their homemade chips, salsa and soda.
Another major difference in the Packer’s concept is that the restaurant is chef driven, and family owned and operated. In fact, the word Mekenita means little Mekena, which also happens to be the name of the couple’s first born. “When we first started dating and talked about having children, it was an incredible coincidence that we had both, previous to even meeting, picked out the name Mekena to be the name of a little girl,” Tiffani recalls. “So now, to actually have a daughter and a restaurant with the name is very special and significant to our lives.”
 The name scenario points out that there seems much about the partnership of Rand and Tiffani - both in marriage and in business - that has a serendipitous quality about it. They are both Californians. Rand was born and raised in Southern California while Tiffani’s family moved to northern California when she was ten years old. They also both reflect that sunny optimism that once embodied the California dream. “We’re both really easy-going so there’s not a lot of stress,” she says, and Rand agrees. “We’re a great team, so if one of us is feeling overwhelmed, the other picks up the load and helps out. We balance each other and we know from past experience that there is nothing we can’t overcome by working through it together. We don’t fear failure, so every day is considered successful.”
Family is a big driver in the Packard household. “We love to be together; our kids are hilarious; they make us laugh and easily remind us what really matters in life,” says Tiffani. “Rand loves to cook – he’ll spend a day at the restaurant cooking and then come home and make food for the family. He’s always trying something new. Our two oldest daughters - ages five and three - love to cook right alongside Daddy. They come up with fun ingredients and Rand just goes with it! As a family, we love to go camping!” The family also drives the restaurant endeavors. “It’s also a dream come true to know that at the end of each day, our efforts directly affect our family,” says Rand. “It’s great job security. We are in charge of our success and that is invigorating!”
Family is the primary concept in the triad of values that drive the business. “We operate according to three values,” says Tiffani. “They are: Family first! When we started this business we promised each other that nothing would ever be more important than our marriage and our children. We often say, ‘We own the business, it doesn’t own us.’ In the restaurant business, you have to maintain control or it will take everything out of you. We’re not willing to miss out on the short amount of time we have with little kids at home. They won’t wait. Business endeavors will come and go, but family is forever. We also respect the family of each employee – their individual families come first and they know we value and respect the time they need to keep their own families in harmony. After two years of business, this is the main principle that has kept us successful and excited about our lives."
Honesty is an essential quality that the Packards use in managing their team of 11 employees. “It’s important to stay honest to your team,” says Rand. “We learn to value what each employee offers. We make sure that they are having fun and that they know they make us a better restaurant. Guests can tell if the employees like their jobs, and it’s always a huge compliment when we are told how happy our team is and what an incredible job they do. Guests go out of their way to share their praise for our team.”
Lastly, they strive to cultivate an atmosphere that communicates their shared appreciation for their guests. “We all work hard to provide customers with an experience that exceeds their expectations,” Rand says. “We don’t exist without guests at our restaurant. We know that money is tight for a lot of people right now and we want our guests to feel that their money was well spent with us and our hope is that they come back again.”
Although a graduate of the prestigious San Francisco-based California Culinary Academy, much of what Rand learned about restaurant management and functioning as an Executive Chef, he learned during his 10-year tenure working with famed Hawaiian chef and restaurateur Roy Yamaguchi. In fact, he trained directly under Yamaguchi’s tutelage for four years prior to being selected to serve as the Executive Chef and Partner in the Roy’s restaurant operating near Tampa International Airport. It was an experience from which he learned much that he has been able to apply to his own establishment. “While working at Roy’s, I learned how to work with diverse personality types and realized that a major part of the restaurant business is the staff,” he says. “You can’t manage everybody the same way; you have to know and understand each person in order to best to help them flourish in the restaurant environment.”
The couple set their sights high - and their values are aligned accordingly. “Nordstrom and Chick-fil-A are companies that we admire,” says Tiffani. “They are both great companies and share many of our same values. We have learned that their incorporation of these values has created incredible success for their businesses and therefore instilled within us a confidence to do what feels right.
“On an individual basis, we have been so lucky to have been surrounded by incredibly talented and educated people. We have applied standards and day-to day best business practices from many of our personal affiliations.”
As for the future, they hope to manage the growth of their concept from one restaurant into many. “We do have some exciting plans for our concept,” says Tiffani. “We created this concept with growth in mind and when we feel solid, we’re going for it. The world is our burrito!”
Along the journey from now to then, the Packards will continue to count their blessings. “We are still having a great time,” Tiffani says. “Our biggest goal was to be able to open up a restaurant and keep family first. We have succeeded. If you stay true to your values you can’t go wrong!”
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