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One family. Three generations. Seventy-five years of serving Springfield-style Mexican food.
Welcome to Mexican Villa, a local legend. The Springfield staple will celebrate its 75th anniversary in September.
“We are 100% uniquely Springfield,” said owner Garin Ferguson. “We are not authentic Mexican or Tex-Mex or California-style. You can’t get this in Dallas, Denver or San Antonio. We’re unique to Springfield, much like cashew chicken.”
Mexican Villa lands in Springfield after World War II
This black-and-white photo of founders Betty and Garin Ferguson hangs in the original Mexican Villa. Garin tasted Mexican food during his time in the Army in Texas. (Photo by Juliana Goodwin)
Ferguson is named after his grandfather Garin Ferguson, who started the restaurant in 1951 after returning from World War II. During his time in the Army, Garin was stationed in San Antonio and fell in love with Mexican food.
What he created was “inspired by Mexican food to fit an Ozarks palate,” said Ferguson.
Today, there are seven locations, with six in Springfield and one in Ozark. Four are full-service, and three are counter-service restaurants.
They grind two tons of Iowa corn each week to produce their own tortillas and chips at a factory on West Division Street.
The restaurant also has a line of its signature sauces: Sweet, mild, and hot, which is sold in 120 stores in several states and ships nationwide. Ferguson said the restaurant has even shipped the sauces overseas because international students will come to Springfield and get a taste of the sauce and order it when they go back to their home country.
Mexican Villa’s mild sauce was developed as a burrito sauce. The sweet sauce goes into tacos. Back in the day, customers started dipping chips in the sauces and the sauces alone developed a following. These sauces are not traditional salsas but are recipes that were developed more than 70 years ago.
Springfield gets its first, now oldest Mexican restaurant
The building that houses the original Mexican Villa was built in the 1920s as a restaurant. It closed during the Great Depression and then became a barbecue joint. Garin Ferguson bought it in 1951. (Photo by Juliana Goodwin)
The original location is on South National and was built in 1928 as a restaurant — this was before the Ferguson family ever owned it. It closed during the Great Depression and then reopened as several versions of a barbecue joint.
In 1951, his grandpa opened it as Pig N’ Bun.
“He was a foodie of the 40s,” said Ferguson.
Grandpa started dabbling in Mexican food and adding items to the menu.
In 1954, he moved to where Jimm’s Steakhouse is today on Glenstone Avenue because the area was being developed and he followed the development. He opened Old Mexico, which was Springfield’s first takeout restaurant. In the meantime, he leased his National Avenue building to an Italian place.
But his move was too soon and he closed that location. So, when the owner of the Italian Villa vacated in 1962, Garin was frugal and decided he could salvage the “Villa” part of the sign. He called the sign company and changed Italian to Mexican and Mexican Villa was born.
One of his buddies from Texas moved to Springfield to teach him how to make Mexican food and they adapted the recipes for local tastes.
The following year, El Taco opened on Kearney as the company’s second location.
During all of this, Garin operated a crop-dusting business. He bought a surplus fleet of planes from the government and turned them into crop dusters.
He had 12 planes and nine pilots and worked all the way down in Tunica, Mississippi. That business kept the restaurant afloat for years because it wasn’t profitable.
Back home, his wife Betty ran the restaurants, was the cook, baked pies and raised four kids.
“Betty was instrumental in the success,” Ferguson said. “She could get it done.”
He also remembered his grandmother as gentle and kind. As the restaurant expanded, their children pitched in and eventually became the second generation of owners.
A third generation takes over
The interior of the original restaurant still has wood paneling, juke boxes and photos that showcase their long history. (Photo by Juliana Goodwin)
Ferguson started working in the restaurant when he was 10.
At 14, he was bussing tables. As a teen, he and a buddy would mow the lawns of the restaurant and get to eat lunch and dinner for free.
When you own one of Springfield’s most famous restaurants, everyone asks you to bring chips and queso to every party and that began back when he was a kid and continues today.
Ferguson got a business degree and then like his grandfather and father, enlisted in the military. He joined the Navy and was deployed for Iraqi Freedom, but also helped with aid relief after the 2004 Asian tsunami.
Ferguson returned to Springfield and worked in a bank, but was drawn to the restaurant. He wasn’t used to a desk job, he said, and he longed for the chaos that restaurants bring.
In 2012, he bought out the second generation of Fergusons who owned Mexican Villa and took over. His dad still owns a quarter of the business.
Just as he worked in the restaurant growing up, Ferguson has 14-year-old twins who help with catering.
Although Springfield wasn’t ready for Mexican food in the 1950s, the city hungers for it now. He’s added menu items to reflect this such as quesadillas, build-your-own bowls and chimichangas. But even though they have added some items, they stay true to original recipes and are not trying to be something they are not, Ferguson said.
Mexican Villa isn’t just a tradition; it’s a big employer in the Springfield region.
They employ 180 people and many have decades of service to the restaurant, which is highly unusual in the industry, Ferguson said. That is something else unique about Mexican Villas — they know their customers and customers know the staff.
“It’s part of the fabric of Springfield now,” Ferguson said.
He’s proud of what his family has built and plans to have a celebration in September to celebrate the restaurant’s 75th anniversary, but said he hasn’t finalized the date and details yet.
After 75 years of signature sauces, Ferguson has decided to launch a modern salsa, something more commonly found at Mexican restaurants. They’ve developed a product he’s proud of, and it will be released soon — exact date to be determined.
“I know we lose some new customers because they come here expecting salsa,” he said.
Soon, they will get it.
‘Embrace us for what we are’
A burrito enchilada style is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. This sign is in the parking lot on South National. (Photo by Juliana Goodwin)
Recently, a gentleman came into the original building on National Avenue and looked around. Ferguson initially thought he was a new customer because the man was taking it all in.
“He said ‘It hasn’t changed much,’” Ferguson said. “He graduated in 1984 from Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State) and hadn’t been back. When I think of how much this world has changed, there are very few places you can go back to and have the same experience.”
There’s still the same jukebox, colorful tables, original wood paneling and black-and-white photos of the founders Garin and Betty Ferguson on the wall.
Sometimes people new to the area come in thinking this is authentic Mexican and complain that it’s not. But Ferguson says that’s not what the restaurant is about.
“We are a tradition and we are 100% authentic Springfield-Mexican food,” he said. “Embrace us for what we are.”
Juliana Goodwin is a freelance journalist with experience covering business, travel and tourism, health, food and history. She is a former Food and Travel Columnist for the Springfield News-Leader, a former business reporter for The Joplin Globe, and has written for USA Today and Arkansas Living Magazine, among others. More by Juliana Goodwin
