Close friends will open a new Mexican restaurant below lofts in downtown Perry

Close friends, and now business partners, Norma Thomas and Lourdes Gutierrez are opening a new Mexican restaurant this summer in downtown Perry with authentic dishes made from family recipes.

Fuego Fresco Mexican Restaurant is at 1013 Northside Drive, Suite 100, in The Chalet Lofts. The new building includes restaurant and retail space on the first floor and 12 luxury lofts on the second floor.

Gutierrez’s 23-year-old son, Brandon Cervantes, came up with the name of the restaurant.

Fuego translates from Spanish as “fire” and fresco as “fresh,” Thomas said.

“He said, ‘Fuego Fresco sounds beautiful for a Mexican restaurant because it’s hot and at the same time it’s fresh.’“

Thomas, a native of Cotija, Mexico, is a past owner of Casa Mexico in Byron which she left in 2018. Gutierrez, a native of Colima, Mexico, previously worked 14 years at Tapatio in Fort Valley. Thomas came to the U.S. when she was 12 and Gutierrez when she was 15.

When Thomas started thinking about owning another restaurant, she and her husband stopped in for a bite at Tapatio and Guitierrez was their server. Thomas’ husband suggested that she partner with Guitierrez in the new restaurant venture and she loved the idea. Gutierrez first wanted to talk it over with her husband and by the next day, she was all in.

Within a week, the women were scouting for a location in Perry, having first looked at the former Zaxby’s on Sam Nunn Boulevard and then at The Chalet Lofts at the recommendation of a Perry city employee, who also suggested a third possible location.

“We fell in love with this one — the beauty of the area,” Thomas said.

What to expect

The restaurant, which has a clean modern look, can seat about 80 people inside at booths and tables and another 40 on the patio which the women expect to have fenced in.

“Our vision is to be successful and to have good quality food,” Thomas said.

In addition to authentic dishes from family recipes, the restaurant will serve traditional Mexican fare such as tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, burritos and more.

Among the authentic Mexican dishes is tacos dorados, which the menu describes as three deep fried corn tacos filled with potato or refried beans topped with lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese and served with rice, beans and tomatillo sauce on the side.

Another authentic Mexican dish is menudo, which is beef tripe, the edible lining of a cow’s stomach cooked in a chili-based broth, seasoned with herbs and served with tortillas, lime, cilantro, onions, dry oregano and toasted hot peppers. The dish will only be available on Saturday and Sundays.

Birria tacos, quesadilla birrias, and birria burritos also are featured on the six-page menu that includes combination plates, lunch specials and kids meals.

Seafood dishes include camarones a la diabla, a spicy dish of grilled shrimp and onions marinated in diabla sauce and served with rice and a salad, and tostadas de civiche, a flat tostada topped with lime-marinated shrimp along with pico de gallo, avocado chunks and a spicy sauce.

The corn tortillas are handmade and all the sauces are housemade.

Desserts include flan, xango, churros, sopapilla, a banana burrito and side of ice cream.

The restaurant will offer a variety of margaritas, draft, domestic and import beer, flights of margaritas, flights of tequila, and wine.

Non-alcoholic beverages include Coca-Cola products, Jarritos and other bottled Mexican soft drinks, and seasonal fresh water-based beverages such as horchata.

“We’re excited,” Thomas said of the restaurant’s pending opening.

The restaurant’s location is within the city’s designated restaurant district, which allows “a customer to take an alcoholic beverage in a plastic cup on public spaces within the district, including sidewalks, rights of way, buildings and public parks between 11:00 a.m. and midnight daily,” according to the city’s website.

Restaurant hours are expected to be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 9:55 AM.