JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A growing Hispanic community has opened the door for a one-stop shop for groceries, restaurant food and a butcher shop in North Johnson City.
La Costa Chica opened Friday at 2614 N. Roan Street. The large space has plenty of room for all three features, one of the restaurant’s managers, Jose Miranda, told News Channel 11.
“This is a big building that is designed for a restaurant, it is designed for a grocery store and it is also designed for a butcher market,” said Miranda, who moved to the area from Los Angeles several years ago.
The business is owned by the Darian family, which also owns a Latin grocery market on West Market Street, and will be overseen by Leslie Darian.
The restaurant, Costa Chica Grill, features a wide variety of Mexican dishes but specializes in those from the southern state of Oaxaca.
Among those is tlayuda, a large, thin tortilla toasted on a flat griddle and topped with meats and other toppings.
“We also have a tortilleria, which is a big machine that makes over 1,200 tortillas per hour, so everything’s going to be fresh,” Miranda said.
While the overall growth in the area’s Latino population has helped drive demand for the store’s products and allowed for niche offerings like a butcher shop, Miranda said the owners hope to appeal to everyone.
“This is a diversity, for all the Tri-Cities and all the surrounding area.”
The butcher shop will be an addition that isn’t common in the area, as it will feature some south-of-the-border styles and cuts.
“A lot of people like to barbecue on the weekends, they like to spend time with their family at the lake — they’re going to be able to come here, get marinated meat all ready to just throw on the grill and cook it,” Miranda said.
He expects about 30 people to work in the operation.
“We encourage everybody to check out the business,” he said. “The whole building is going to be open from 10 in the morning until 10 at night. We’re working right now on having our own bar as well.”
