BOARDMAN –

It’s written in a large mural on the back wall of the restaurant: “La Serenata Family Mexican Restaurant will tempt the taste buds with authentic Mexican dishes.”

The restaurant, which opened July 20, was a dream of Jessica and Pedro Hernandez, who have worked in the restaurant industry for more than 15 years combined. And now they’ve taken their experience and hard work and put it into their own restaurant.

Jessica’s father, who is a professor of theater arts at the University of Wyoming, visited the new restaurant for a short time and painted a large mural of a love-filled serenade on the back wall of the restaurant.

With the mural in place, customers can order any of the several items on the menu, including several chicken, enchilada, burrito and salad dishes.

To some, the menu will be familiar, Jessica said. Pedro’s brother owns Las Mananitas in Hermiston, where the two helped out previously.

But their new restaurant is all their own.

“We wanted to open a restaurant for ourselves,” she said.

n Name of business: La Serenata Family Mexican Restaurant

n Location: 302 N. E. Olson Road, Boardman, across the street from the Lamb-Weston plant

n Phone number: 481-2028

n Hours: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m, seven days a week

n Owners: Pedro and Jessica Hernandez

n What’s your favorite?: “I don’t know, everything is good. The fajitas are really good. So are the seafood dishes.”

n What makes your food authentic?: “He makes everything perfect because he wants it to be good.”