EAST LONGMEADOW — During its regular meeting on Oct. 15, the East Longmeadow Planning Board unanimously approved an amendment to a special permit to allow Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant to utilize outdoor dining each year from April to October.
The restaurant, which opened on 621 North Main St. in 2022, used to be called “Torito” until it had to change its name due to a claim from a California restaurant that the East Longmeadow eatery was using its name. The Town Council officially approved the name change to “Mazatlan” during an Oct. 8 meeting.
According to Jeff Oppenheim, an attorney representing Mazatlan, the restaurant was “compelled” to change its name due to this claim.
“[It] wasn’t necessarily something we were excited to do,” he said.
Despite being forced to make this change, Mazaltan now has the ability to utilize two existing outdoor decks for the service of food and alcoholic beverage at eight separate tables for a maximum of 32 people during the aforementioned months, thanks to the approval by the Planning Board.
According to Oppenheim, the use of these decks was integral during the coronavirus pandemic years.
“I think it’s one of those situations where it’s almost, I think, ideal from a Planning Board point of view, because the use has happened,” Oppenheim said. “We know of no problems with the use.”
The board’s approval of outdoor dining at the restaurant comes with minor conditions, including the fact that outdoor dining will be allowed seven days a week until 10 p.m. Currently, Mazatlan’s hours of operations are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
According to Oppenheim, food and drink preparations will occur inside and will be brought out by a waitstaff specifically dedicated to the outdoor decks.
“In my experience, and I represent a number of restaurants, post-pandemic, you need to be able to serve food outside,” Oppenheim said. “There are people who are still concerned about exposure to COVID and will not eat inside. But even those people who are willing to eat inside, I think it’s generally much nicer to be outside. The weather is nice and it’s important from a competitive point of view to be able to do that.”
Mazatlan offers a variety of entrees, including chicken, seafood, beef or pork, as well as half a dozen vegetarian options. There are also a plethora of tacos, burritos, enchiladas and chimichangas to choose from on its menu.
According to the Planning Board, there have been no noise complaints or other issues at the restaurant in the past, and the parking at the restaurant will not change due to the special permit amendment.
Now that outdoor dining is approved by the board, the owners of the restaurant will head to Town Council for the amendment of the restaurant’s liquor license.
