Lovin’ La Cruz, their inn… each other!

Update; October 2018

La Cruz inn continues their great tradition of great food served with Love.

Comfort food, great surroundings, wonderful people and community spirit abounds. Sometimes you just want a good meal; sometimes you get so much more.

When lovebirds Cirilo and Annette bought The La Cruz inn in June 2016 the town gained a gem of an eatery as well as great accommodation for visitors to our wonderful town. Going into their third season they’ve continued with what seems like an annual tradition of fixing up, renovating and polishing their gem.

The first year was ‘spit and polish’; paint etc. and they added two rooms above the existing structure. The second season came the addition of two more rooms, basic hotel rooms without kitchen and changes to the restaurant kitchen, increased the menu twofold. This summer getting ready to go into their third season they’ve have given the kitchen a face-lift and added much more storage and prep area for their staff. Annette told me “This meant for us personally moving from the original small management unit attached to the kitchen to our newly built apartment above.” Well deserved for sure!

Excited for the upcoming ‘season’ their focusing on their great menu; we’ve had positive feedback so it will remain almost the same. They’ve reduced a few dishes to allow the service to be consistent. Daily features from our chefs will allow them creativity and bring back guest favorites; Fish Tacos, Meatloaf, Ribs, and the sizzling decadent molcajetes.

Enjoy the music on the rooftop, the dancing horses will visit some evenings and stayed tuned for other special events at the La Cruz Inn Facebook page. They’re open daily from 8am-9pm serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. They’ll serve up traditional turkey dinner for both Canadian and American Thanksgiving, reservations required.

Matt Storch

They enjoy most visiting with our guests, the regulars along with the tourists. They love being situated on the main plaza, beside the church; there’s never a dull moment. Weddings, quinceañeras at the church, markets and festivals in the plaza and local families enjoying in the plaza; there’s never a dull moment.

I asked them what has surprised them most; “How greatly received the Inn has been, we are complimented on our comfort food that all miss from home as well as that it is an inviting friendly place to come and join others. It is like a gathering place some days, we thoroughly enjoy everyone that comes and love seeing return visitors. Turning our dream into reality has brought many rewards; we enjoy working as a couple and being able to live full time in this lovely pueblo. We live our dream and realize how lucky we are. As for challenges we face difficulty with staffing, living in a tourist town which means it is high priced for nationals to live. The locals tend to work within their family businesses. We’ve had to recruit from towns inland, this means a long commute for staff and limiting hours of work as the public transit does not run very late into the night.

We’re proud to contribute to the community by providing jobs; we’ve gone from 5 employees to 16.
Being part of the La Cruz community means to us that we have been accepted, it is so nice to go for a walk with our rescue dog and have locals and expats alike recognize us and great us with a wave and warm smile. La Cruz is a very caring community. When someone needs help everyone is there to assist.
It also means giving back.
- We serve meals to police officers.
- If we see a needy person we also offer a meal.
- As for our local stray dogs and cats we give from the left over food.
- Saving our cans for Doña Mary to give her each morning as she does her daily collection.
- We donate to the church and to the pueblo when they are having special events.
- We help out as well with local sports teams.
- We hold fundraising events such as cook-offs as well as we sell items and tickets at the restaurant for fundraisers in the community.

December 2016

Welcome, Cirilo and Annette, the owners of the La Cruz Inn simply Lovin’ La Cruz and making it better for us all!

Lovin’ La Cruz could be their name as it is most definitely true for these two! Love is in the air; the epitome of love in all ways… they love each other, they love La Cruz, and they love serving others; they simply are filled to the brim with LOVE!

It was a cool coincidence when we met Annette as she’s from the same town as us… back home. From that day forward we’ve been forever friends, all loving our new town, new friends, new life.

Annette was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Nettie as her friend’s call her bought her retirement home here nine years ago. Far from retirement age, she kept working knowing that one day her dream would be fulfilled. Lovin’ La Cruz, she visited as often as she could to the delight of all who know her. Always a smile, forever kind, and generously giving back to the community in one way or another every visit.

Cirilo was born in Zihuatanejo, Mexico and has been in the bay area for 20 years. As a server, he dotes on his clients with sincerity and character. Gentle, loving, peaceful, solid, grounded and ever so helpful. He is the perfect match for Annette; always a smile, forever kind, and generously giving back to the community.

The blossoming love was evident when they met six years ago; Cirilo, the strong silent type courted vivacious Netty creating a life together that everyone admires. They shared, “We met in Mexico and were married a few years later. We worked on cruise ships both together and separately. We moved to Canada for one year to work together and missed Mexico so much we made it our focus to save up and return to La Cruz and it happened!”

Together, they are most proud of “Living our dream; we have dreamed of owning and running the La Cruz Inn for many years, we used to sit in the plaza in front of the Inn dreaming of it and brainstorming over a cold cerveza.”

After marrying they both had to keep working in other areas, sadly sometimes apart, but they spent as much time together as possible here… in paradise! They simply love La Cruz and every effort was to return here, live here, retire here… one day! Why? “The people, the weather, the affordability, and the lifestyle. Living here is life at its fullest, every day!”

Before officially moving back to La Cruz Annette had worked on cruise ships for over fifteen years. Cirilo worked in the service industry on land and sea for most of his adult years. With their extensive backgrounds in hospitality, travel, and tourism they are the absolutely perfect, in my opinion, Innkeepers for the La Cruz Inn. They both intend to be fully immersed in all areas of the business. Fun facts: Annette – has traveled to all seven continents and five oceans & Cirilo has traveled to five continents.

Folks will be coming back for more once they visit their restaurant, that’s for sure! Annette loves to cook and plans to create a wide variety; pasta and BBQ are some of our favorites. Cirilo stated, “both of us love to eat!” Somehow I think I know who the #1 taster will be! Annette told me “In the restaurant, we want to prepare and serve homemade food (and foods that expats miss from their home country) always of great value. The menu will be varied based on seasonal options, the creations they come up with and what their clients most appreciate. They’re already getting quite a following of expats, local nationals, and tourists and they’ve been open like, a minute!

In serving guest at their new Inn they’re most excited about “Seeing others enjoy our area and Inn as much as we enjoy it. Sharing our area of the bay with new visitors and sharing new sights with return visitors. Having complimentary feedback is always a great feeling and we already are getting great reviews recommending us to friends and family.”

Seasoned in the hospitality biz they prepared for all. “We know every guest is different, although we are new to running our own Inn we have vast experience in similar roles and it’s always interesting to figure out people’s wants and preferences. We embrace challenges and try to turn any concerns into a positive outcome.”

I asked them about growth and changes and if they see them for the better? “La Cruz is an area in the bay that has remained a quaint pueblo but this is changing fast, with announcements of new condo developments this means great change for the area. We do see most locals here are embracing it and making a better living for themselves.”

What inspires you? “Seeing new businesses in town opening and many entrepreneurs able to give it a go here.” Well then they should be inspired by the newest couple Livin and Lovin’ La Cruz… wait that’s YOU!

In our waterfront town do you enjoy other water sports… sailing, surfing, fishing, etc? If so, what is your favorite? “We have good friends with sailboats and always enjoy a day on the bay. It is amazing what you can see so close to home; whales, dolphins, rays, seabirds. We do enjoy fishing as well, once we landed a mahi-mahi and within minutes were enjoying freshly prepared sushi!”

Do you have a favorite cause in the area? “We are animal lovers and have taken care of several street animals. There are so many great causes in the bay area that we look forward to getting more involved in.”

Netty’s favorite quote “As my aunt says ‘to live for’ (instead of ‘to die for’)! Ex. Our homemade burgers are ‘to live for’”.

What do you see as the greatest change to La Cruz in recent years? “Cleaner, the town is making fantastic strides in keeping the garbage off the street. We also love the Saturday music in the plaza, great area for people watching.”

Town plaza

If you could preserve something from earlier times in La Cruz what would it be? “Affordability, with the growth in the area and the strengthening of the US Dollar, prices are going up and forcing some locals out.”

If you had a magic wand, what would your wish for La Cruz de Huanacaxtle be 5 years from now and beyond? “To keep the feel of a small town, allowing the locals to enjoy their area and culture. For tourists and expats to embrace the culture and support small local businesses.”

Would you recommend La Cruz to someone to vacation here and/or live here? “Either, many started vacationing here and fall in love and move here. I always say the song “Hotel California” should be rewritten using the words ‘La Cruz de Huanacaxtle… such a lovely place such a lovely place…you can check out any time you like but you can never leave! (just look at those in bags at Ana Bananas!)”

With fabulous renovations just completed they have 6 rooms and can accommodate up to 2 – 3 people per room in 6 rooms.

In the restaurant, they can accommodate up to 40 people and are open 11:30 to 7pm; changing to more hours in November for the season.