Berkeley’s Las Cabañas Mexican Grill & Taqueria hosted their grand reopening Saturday, featuring deals on food and a live mariachi band.

Located at 1916 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Las Cabañas is a family-owned Mexican restaurant featuring breakfast burritos, specials, tacos, seafood and Mexican grill fare. After it originally opened two years ago during the height of the pandemic, owner Angel Rodriguez said he noticed that locals weren’t aware of the new business.

“The people that live around didn’t know I was here, so we planned something so that people in Berkeley know about Las Cabañas,” Rodriguez said. “Before, this was a pizza place for 20 years — we redid the paint, did the floors, renovated the bathrooms and changed out the furniture.”

Las Cabañas’s new wood furniture was made in Tonala, Jalisco by a Mexican designer, and the new paint features a large, colorful mural against the restaurant’s back wall. Throughout the event, Rodriguez could be seen outside at the grill cooking his specialty Al Pastor tacos.

Born in Chiapas, Mexico, Rodriguez has 17 years of experience preparing Mexican food. Rodriguez said his dream has always been to open a restaurant or business named after Las Cabañas, the ranch where he grew up in Mexico.

“Their food is very authentic — the best authentic Mexican food in Berkeley is right here,” said Jai Kalra, a patron who attended the reopening. “I’m a spicy eater, so I love their habanero sauce. It’s very hard to find — nobody has the combinations of sauces that they do.”

Kalra discovered Las Cabañas two years ago through the Snackpass app and has been ordering from the restaurant ever since. His favorite dish to order is breakfast burritos and habanero sauce and plans to continue frequenting the restaurant in the future.

He and other patrons enjoyed a $1 special on Las Cabañas Al Pastor tacos Saturday, along with a salsa bar and a live mariachi band in the evening. According to an email sent out by the owner, Las Cabañas will continue to offer deals on food throughout the year, especially for UC Berkeley students. The restaurant will offer three Quesabirria tacos for $10 on Wednesdays, $2 tacos for Cal football ticket holders and students on home game days and a 15% student discount on Mondays and Fridays from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.

“I’m happy to get this support from all the students,” Rodriguez said. “I want to say thank you to them — we always try to work with them. It all started with the students.”