By Alice Prival
The Union Star
Enter El Cazador in Brookneal with an appetite for excellence! The aroma of true Mexican cuisine tantalizes your senses as you are welcomed into an ambience of familia. In the words of owner Luis Pumagualle’s son, Luis Jr., “You can come in for dinner or just a drink, or to meet up with friends and family after a ball game.”
Skylar, Luis’s daughter, says, when asked what she likes about working at her father’s restaurant, she shares, “I love talking to people…connecting. Everyone knows this is a family restaurant. There’s always a great energy here! It’s contagious!”
Luis is hands on helping his very efficient and excellently trained staff. Luis’s mind and body are in constant motion, always accommodating his customers.
El Cazador is the best of the best, functioning with delectability, authenticity, efficiency, and consistency! Let’s not leave out artistry as customers are lightly illuminated by the relaxing multicolored tones emanating from the overhead wagon wheel chandelier that hangs over the entrance to the restaurant newly opened restaurant on February 27 at 110 East Rush Street in Brookneal. Not the first El Cazador however, but the fifth!
Amazing artwork draws our eyes to the richly decorated walls, and more wagon wheels above the tables. Don’t forget to visit the restrooms, but prepare to forget what you went there for as you are awestruck by the sinks, wastebaskets and toilets that cause you to pause and stare in disbelief! For a few moments you think you are in a museum staring at the hand painted toilet seats, toilet seat covers, base, and yes, even the inside of the toilet bowl looks like magnificent art work, and who is responsible for such elaborate decor?
It’s owner Luis Pumagualle and his brother, Fabricio who confer on all matters pertaining to the restaurant and the choosing of its artistic decor. Reasonable prices for hearty portions that stun you with generosity! There is not a fraction of an inch of the plate visible as the steam of fresh, hot, mouth watering culinary perfection is placed before you! One bite into the spinach and cheese quesadilla is to lift the palate to an enveloping sense of buttery perfection! Soft sweet cheese melted into the fresh abundant leaves of spinach packed into a quesadilla and cooked lightly to persuade your senses you are biting into a garden lightly melted by the sun! As owner Luis tells us, “The inspiration that led me to culinary creations was I fell in love with the flavors and the spices.”
Well, he’s not the only one that fell in love with the flavors and the spices. He invited us all to fall in love with them as well. His modesty does not leave room to brag about his culinary artistry, his interior decorating flare, and his obvious business expertise as his restaurants just keep opening, five so far, Altavista, Gretna, Evington, Appomattox, and now Brookneal!
When asked, “Are you planning another restaurant in the future?”
Luis smiles a big broad grin, “Another restaurant? Of course!
This is just the beginning for me!”
In a world where epidemics are feared, the contagion of energy, healthy delectable cuisine, and happy faces help us forget the pandemic and remember our roots, our families, our places to gather, to regroup, to heal from the Covid discontent. El Cazador is a daily reunion!
Open seven days a week: Sunday & Monday 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.; and Tuesday - Saturday 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Located in Brookneal at 110 E. Rush St.
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