no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . february 2009 margaritas in lexington massachusetts margaritas mexican restaurant is the largest privately owned mexican restaurant in new england . the proper name of the restaurant is t o juan s margaritas mexican restaurant but it is most commonly referred to as margaritas . the concept originated when several chuck s steakhouse locations owned and run by kukai inc were converted to mexican restaurants and renamed margaritaville in the late 1970s and early 80s . john pelletier an employee and manager of chuck s steak house in concord new hampshire opened his own mexican restaurant in concord calling it tio juan s . in 1987 john partnered with stan bagley and converted a small restaurant in orono maine into the first margaritas mexican restaurant . the following year john s brother dave pelletier joined the partnership . together they opened a restaurant in portland maine in 1989 . in 1996 the owners formed margaritas management group inc. to oversee the operations of the restaurants . mmg is headquartered in portsmouth new hampshire . in 1999 in order to unify a growing company the concord restaurant was officially renamed margaritas mexican restaurant . in 2001 in order to trademark the company name and distinguish it from other similarly named mexican restaurants across the country the restaurants officially became tio juan s margaritas mexican restaurant . the concept evolved considerably over the years with the owners travelling regularly to mexico to study the food culture and decor . the visits to mexico established the founders love of and appreciation for the culture and many strong business relationships and friendships formed with artists and furniture makers throughout the country . decor edit each margaritas has a unique layout as no two buildings are alike . many margaritas are located in buildings that were built for other purposes including a former police station a town power plant factories and a private home . dining rooms and lounges are decorated with artwork hand made furniture and d cor all of which are imported directly from mexico . the decor includes custom carved tile top tables many examples of folk art created by artists from little villages surrounding guadalajara . colorful pottery and planters adorn shelves alongside hand carved painted tables and chairs . there are hand painted details on the walls with colorful suns and animals created in various media located throughout the restaurant . tables are lit with star lights and clay lamps . locations edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message several margaritas restaurants are located in unique and historic buildings throughout the northeast . the first tio juan s restaurant located in concord new hampshire is situated within the city s old police station and jail . the dining room is located in the area of the actual jail cells . the restaurant uses this to good effect placing tables within cells to create atmospheric and semi private dining areas . because the concord location was the first to be established and had good name recognition it remained uniquely named tio juan s while all subsequent restaurants were named margaritas . the concord location is claimed by some to be haunted by a ghost named george . this has been documented in several local publications and in various tv shows that deal with ghosts and hauntings . in 1987 the orono maine location opened followed by the restaurant at st. john street portland in 1989 . augusta maine and portsmouth new hampshire followed in 1990 . the mansfield connecticut restaurant a converted cow barn formally known as springhill farm was bought from kuka inc. in 1992 . that restaurant combined the margaritas mexican menu with a steakhouse menu and was known as chuck s and margaritas . that was followed by branford connecticut and lewiston maine in 1993 . lewiston incorporated the steakhouse menu for the first few years but it was dropped in 1999 . mystic connecticut another converted chuck s steakhouse and later margaritaville became a part of the margaritas organization in 1996 . that restaurant is located in a former sail factory a short distance from mystic seaport . in 1998 margaritas opened the nashua new hampshire restaurant in another converted factory building overlooking a canal and waterfall in the downtown . that building was originally the home of the town s power plant . 1999 saw the opening of the keene new hampshire margaritas on main street in one of the oldest buildings in the town the birthplace of the mother of henry david thoreau . the manchester new hampshire margaritas opened in early 2001 . east hartford connecticut followed in 2002 . then came salem new hampshire and waltham the first location in massachusetts in 2003 . lebanon new hampshire opened in 2004 exeter in 2005 revere massachusetts in 2006 and weymouth in 2007 . in 2007 mmg sold the mansfield and the branford locations to back to kukai inc. margaritas then opened restaurants in dover new hampshire in 2008 lexington and medford massachusetts in 2009 and framingham massachusetts in 2010 . margaritas opened a franchise location in lansdale pennsylvania in october 2012 and in langhorne pennsylvania in june 2013 . additional franchises are slated for collegeville pennsylvania and wilmington delaware . as of june 2013 there are 22 company owned margaritas mexican restaurants . in april 2015 margaritas opened their 7th company owned massachusetts location in methuen in the loop shopping center . external links edit official website facebook page retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title margaritas restaurant & oldid 675518708 categories companies 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