Four longtime friends and entrepreneurs turned their shared vision into reality with Cantina’s Mexican Kitchen, a vibrant and popular Clermont restaurant.
Ivan Mauricio and Nora Mendez, owners of Stone Experts in Tavares, and Jaime Solis and Lucia Alvarado, owners of Solal Painting in DeLand, first entertained the idea when a casual conversation after a soccer game between Ivan and Jaime led to the realization that they both had dreamed of opening a restaurant.
“So many nights, I’d tell my wife, ‘One day I’ll have a restaurant that brings people together,’” Ivan recalls…