When Naval Academy midshipman Andre Testman Jr., 22, moved to Annapolis from San Diego three years ago, he found that the Mexican food was seriously not up to snuff.
“He told me, ?They think Taco Bell is Mexican food? ” on the East Coast, said his mother, Laura Allen.
Tired of her job and ? she says jokingly, her husband ? in San Diego, Allen, 57, packed up her car, and an 8-by-12 trailer, and moved to the East Coast to bring some authentic Mexican food her son?s way.
When she arrived in Maryland, she apartment shopped, landing eventually in Annapolis, and sampled every Mexican restaurant in Anne Arundel County. She wasn?t impressed.
Five months later, Allen and her husband opened Diego?s, a Mexican restaurant on Gov. Ritchie Highway in Severna Park.
It?s been open only a year and a half, but Aaron Greenfield, the chief executive officer of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp., said the restaurant is a “thriving” business.
Allen says the key to her restaurant?s success is fresh food, and the key to fresh food is good meat. Allen uses only chicken breast and top sirloin beef in her recipes.
“You can?t be biting into grizzle,” Allen said. “I buy the most expensive meat out there.”
Allen, a native San Diegan, is an American Indian ? but she knows Mexican food.
“My family has always cooked Mexican food … and I managed a Mexican restaurant in my younger years,” she said.
Allen has already made an impact on the Mexican food market with her own brand of salsa, Chachie?s, which is available in major supermarkets.
Walking into Diego?s, it?s evident how important the Naval Academy is to Allen?s business.
A Navy football flag is draped over the counter, and there are photos of Allen with son Andre tacked on the wall. Allen delivers to Naval Academy students because she knows they don?t always have to time to go out for meals.
“They?re the reason I came here,” she said.
When her son is deployed at the end of this year, Allen plans to stay in Severna Park and possibly open another Diego?s in Deale.
And what if Andre has a jones for mom?s home cooking?
“He?ll just have to come visit me,” she said, grinning widely.
