The Commercial Street restaurant celebrated its milestone Friday with a ribbon cutting, taco and salsa-eating contests, prizes and a crowd that stayed engaged despite the wet weather.
For a restaurant celebrating 25 years in Salem, Habaneros did not keep things quiet.
Mariachi music greeted guests outside the Commercial Street location Friday as community members gathered beneath tents and around the restaurant for a midday anniversary celebration. A colorful balloon-framed entrance marked the occasion, but much of the attention quickly shifted to the food contests, where spectators packed in close to cheer on competitors.
Behind the celebration was a history that started long before the Habaneros name appeared on its restaurants.
Cristina Sánchez, one of the owners and founders, said the business began serving Salem in 2001 from its first restaurant at 1980 State St. The restaurant operated under a different brand at the time. The Habaneros brand was later created in 2019, bringing the restaurants the owners operated under the same name.
For Sánchez, reaching 25 years was something she once had trouble imagining.
“Sometimes I couldn’t even believe it. It was already 25 years,” Sánchez said.
Getting there was not always certain.
Sánchez said the 2010 recession brought one of the most difficult periods in the company’s history, when the owners believed they might have to close their doors. That changed when Sabino Arredondo joined the business as a partner and provided the capital needed to keep going.
“He’s been our partner since 2010 when we thought we were going to close our doors,” Sánchez said.
Arredondo remains a partner today alongside Sánchez and Nancy Gaytán, whom Sánchez described as a key part of the company’s success.
Friday’s anniversary at 4940 Commercial St. SE was a much lighter chapter in that history.
A taco-eating contest drew some of the loudest reactions as competitors raced through trays of street-style tacos while an announcer counted down the time. As the contest narrowed, people gathered closer, phones came out and applause followed the finish.
Then came the spicy salsa challenge, bringing another round of cheers and plenty of reactions from competitors reaching for water between bites. Habaneros had advertised $500 prizes for each of the two food contests.
Sánchez said Lucy Escobar helped lead the planning for the anniversary event, but one of the biggest surprises was how strongly the community responded.
“The taco contest was great,” Sánchez said. She recalled people staying engaged throughout the event and continually asking, “What’s happening next?”
The celebration also included an official ribbon cutting, community and vendor tables, prizes and a $1,000 raffle tied to the Habaneros Passport program. Habaneros offered 25% off regularly priced menu items across its locations for the anniversary day.
Today, Habaneros has six locations, including three in Salem. Sánchez said the Salem restaurants remain especially important to the owners because of the customers who have continued returning over the years.
“What we are really most grateful for is the preference of our customers,” she said.
That longevity extends to the staff as well. Sánchez said some employees have worked with the company for more than 20 years, while others have remained for a decade or longer.
“We have people working for us for over 20 years,” she said.
Sánchez attributes much of that retention to a workplace culture where employees are treated like family and encouraged to speak openly.
“We take everybody’s opinion as very important because sometimes you get the best idea from the person that you never expect,” Sánchez said.
Even as the company considers future growth, Sánchez said the focus remains on keeping Habaneros affordable while maintaining quality, freshness and speed.
Friday’s celebration showed what those 25 years have built. Between the mariachi music, food contests, rain, ribbon cutting and packed tent, the milestone felt less like a formal anniversary and more like a restaurant celebrating alongside the community that helped keep its doors open.