The restaurant’s new location has been undergoing renovations that are now complete, swinging open the door for the restaurant to open. Initial plans were to open late last year, but the wait is over. The restaurant has been recruiting and accepting applications to fortify its staff in the weeks leading up to the opening date.
Habanero’s new St. Charles Parish site features drink specials created just for the Luling location, while its menu is like the one used by its other restaurant locations.
According to its website, Habanero’s aims to deliver “a well-traveled menu of dishes that emulate the street foods and laid-back eateries of native Mexico.”
The restaurant serves traditional and modern Mexican food and popular Tex-Mex cuisine such as burritos, carne asada, carnitas, tacos and quesadillas. The menu includes chicken, seafood and steak specialties as well as varieties of burritos, enchiladas, fajitas and other dishes. Choices include 15 combination dinners and selections for appetizers, salads, desserts, soups and à la carte items.
The restaurant is open Monday thru Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday thru Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The interior design of each Habanero’s restaurant features striking neon lighting and contemporary Mexican folk-art themes, laid out and designed by husband-and-wife owners Omar and Dulce Lugo.
Both natives of Mexico, Omar and Dulce Lugo and their parents separately immigrated to the Dalton, Georgia area for employment, which is where the couple first met each other as children.
Together they worked in the restaurant industry for several years in varying positions before founding their first Habanero’s location in 2014. Beginning with one St. Tammany area restaurant, Habanero’s now has two locations in Covington, along with a single location in Slidell.
