Guadagno’s running for N.J. governor, and away from Christie

KEANSBURG — As Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno formally launched her 2017 bid for governor Tuesday, she avoided any talk of the unpopular governor who gave her a shot in statewide politics eight years ago. Promising that “better days are ahead in New Jersey,” Guadagno in her 22-minute speech at a Mexican restaurant La Playa did not… Read the rest of this entry »

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Year in review: July 2015

Toni Marletta
photo via facebook

Marissa Procopio, 15, of Atlantic Highlands was struck and killed on July 7 by a hit and run driver on Rt 36 in the Leonardo section of Middletown. Toni Ann Marletta, 49, of Leonardo was arrested and charged with Leaving the Scene of a Fatal Accident, No Insurance, and other Motor Vehicle offenses on July 15.  Marletta was released from the custody of the Monmouth County Correctional Institution on August 4 after Judge Francis Vernoia allowed her to post 10% of her 150,000 bail. She remains free on bail pending trial.

The Procopio family filed a wrongful death suit against Marletta in December.

Leo Cervantes, the owner of Chilango’s Mexican Restaurant in Highlands and LaPlaya in Keansburg, was surprised to see himself featured in Governor Chris Christie’s first television commercial of the 2016 GOP presidential race.  Cervantes was part of Christie’s Hispanic outreach in the 2013 gubernatorial campaign, but said he never heard from the presidential campaign and that he has not decided who to support for president.

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Highlands Man Surprised To Find Himself In Christie For President Ad

Governor Chris Christie released the first ad of his fledgling presidential campaign today.  The thirty second spot is aimed at New Hampshire primary voters and will air on Boston, MA and Manchester, NH television and cable outlets, according to a report on NJ.com.  Christie’s campaign will spend $500,000 to distribute the ad over the next four weeks, according to the report.

Monmouth County restaurateur Leo Cervantes, the owner of Chilango’s in Highlands and LaPlaya in Keansburg was surprised to find himself featured in the ad.

Cervantes appears 5 seconds into the ad and is the first face featured after Christie’s.  He had no idea he was in the ad when contacted by MoreMonmouthMusings.

“I endorsed Christie for his reelection as governor,” Cervantes said, “I did a commercial for him and was part of his Hispanic outreach, but I have not heard from his presidential campaign. Should I sue them?” he asked jokingly.

Cervantes said he has not made a decision on who to support for president in 2016. “I was just talking to my daughter about this.  I know the candidates are Bush, Hillary, Trump and some others, but I really haven’t focused on it yet.”

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Cinco de Donald: A MexiCan Celebration

Updated with video

When Leo Cervantes is confronted by a difficult circumstance, he looks for the opportunity it presents.

When the waters of Superstorm Sandy receded from Highlands, Cervantes and his staff at Chilango’s recovered the non-spoiled inventory from their destroyed Bay Avenue restaurant and invited the entire town to a free dinner that they prepared and served at Henry Hudson Regional High School which was serving as a shelter for hundreds of residents displaced by the storm.

When Donald Trump disparaged Mexicans during his presidential candidacy announcement last week, Leo, who immigrated from Neza, a tough town outside of Mexico City in 1989 and became a naturalized United States citizen in 2008, shook off the insult and created an opportunity.

Sunday, July 5th is Cinco de Donald at Leo’s two Monmouth County Mexican restaurants, Chilango’s in Highlands and the newly opened LaPlaya in Keansburg.

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Chilangos owner featured in Christie Ad

Leo Cervantes, owner, of the Highlands Mexican restaurant, Chilangos, is featured in a Christie for Governor ad that was released yesterday.

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Support Chilango’s Rebuilding

photo credit: MireyPosada.blogspot.com

When the waters of Superstorm Sandy receded from Highlands, Leo Cervantes and his staff at Chilango’s recovered the non-spoiled inventory from their destroyed Bay Avenue restaurant and invited the entire town to a free dinner that they prepared and served at Henry Hudson Regional High School which was serving as a shelter for hundreds of residents displaced by the storm.

His business was destroyed, but his home was spared by Sandy. Yet, for weeks after the storm, Cervantes continued to prepare meals for his friends and neighbors in the Henry Hudson shelter.

Leo left the poverty of Neza, a tough town outside of Mexico City in 1989, settling first in Asbury Park with his brother who had come a few years before.  He got a job washing dishes at the Cypress Inn in Wanamassa.  Before long he was working days for a landscaper and nights at the restaurant.

When the Cypress Inn closed, Leo went to work at The Shadowbrook.  Owner Richard Zweben sponsored Leo for his green card.

With $1000 and a note held by the seller, Leo opened Chilango’s Long Branch in 1999.  The four table restaurant thrived on take-out sold mostly to fellow hispanics who appreciated the authentic Mexican cuisine…the way real Mexican food should taste.

Three years later, Leo bought a building on Bay Ave in Highlands and open Chilango’s as an authentic Mexican restaurant and Tequila bar.  Quickly, Chilango’s became a local and regional favorite.  As his business grew, Leo became an important contributing member of the community with his constant support of civic organizations, the Highlands Businss Partnership and he served a term on the Zoning Board.

Leo became a natualized U.S. Citizen in 2008.

Chilango’s was written up in The New York Times in 2011.

Now, four months after Sandy hit, Leo’s bank account is about back to where it was when he opened in Long Branch in 1999. He is caught in the red tape of the SBA and his insurance company, both of whom are asking him to resubmit information he’s already submitted multiple times.   Windnsea and Shadowbrook have both hosted Chilango’s Nights since the storm which were a help in holding over and raising some money for rebuidling, but not enough.  Leo’s spent almost all of his savings on rebuilding, but he’s coming up short.

But he doesn’t want a handout.  Leo’s goal is to raise $50,000 by selling gift certificates redeemable for Mexican food the way it should taste when Chilango’s reopens.  He can be open in a matter of weeks.

Certificates can be purchased through the link below, and/or stop by the tent Leo will have set up in his parking lot to serve Irish Burritos  next Saturday at the Highlands St. Patrick’s Parade.

Your emailed receipt for your “donation” will be your gift certificate.  Bring it with you to apply to your check when you dine at the re-opened Chilango’s.

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