I Like Nueva Zelanda Restaurant!
By: Alfred E. Talley, Retired Vice President of Operations for All- Pro Enterprise, Inc., Owners of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, and All-pro Equities Restaurants.
I like Nueva Zelanda Restaurant! My family says that I’m a picky eater. Also, since I was in the restaurant industry for over 40 years, I’m very, very particular about the hygiene of the places where I choose to eat. So, when I say I like a place, my family laughs that the restaurant has passed the “Dad test.” Nueva Zelanda is definitely one of the places I really like to visit in Ixtapa.
Nueva Zelanda Restaurant is located at Kiosk in central Ixtapa.
Nueva Zelanda is one of the most popular restaurants in Ixtapa. The owner, Pedro Jimenez, proudly states that his restaurant is also “the cleanest and most organized within the city.” He and his crew always put the customers’ needs and sanitary as their top priority.
Pedro is a hands-on operator who is on site daily. He always knows what’s going on. He learned his trade from his father, who at one time, owned 27 restaurants, overall. Pedro also has formal business training through 3 years of Business Administration education at the University of America Puebla.
Nueva Zelanda first opened in 1985. It is open from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, every day except Christmas. It has an extensive Mexican dinner menu as well as a full breakfast and lunch variety.
In consideration of Pedro’s tourist trade, which he claims to be roughly 50% of his business, he uses an English check-off menu in addition to the usual one in Spanish.
This, he finds to be a big plus for his American and Canadian customers when placing their orders.
The breakfast menu has a very tasty pancake breakfast. The pancakes are tops. You get three large pancakes, served with warm syrup and butter. When crispy bacon and fresh eggs are added, you get a full sized breakfast that is second to none.
Later for lunch, excellent enchiladas with a fresh green salad topped with fresh fruit leave one wanting for more. The dinner menu features a well-rounded shrimp plate. Everything can be enhanced with the excellent cocktails with Margaritas that are “out of this world.”
Another attraction that attributes to his business is the Music, Art, Food and Dance Festival held every Thursday and Saturday evenings between 7-9 p.m. This takes place right across from his restaurant which helps to attract traffic in the area.
Mr. Jimenez’s future plans include possibly franchising his business model to expand his over-all enterprising.
I look forward to my next visit to Ixtapa and to eating again at Nueva Zelanda.