• File: James Buck
• A spread of food and drink at Casa Real

Within its first year of operating restaurants in Vermont, the trio behind Casa Real in Colchester and the just-opened Casa Grande in Williston will bring an extensive menu of crowd-pleasing Tex-Mex classics to Barre by the end of 2024. Co-owner Eduardo Fuentes said the group is currently renovating a former Panera Bread location at 1450 Barre-Montpelier Road and hopes to open the 120-seat Casa Azteca in November or December.

Each of the business partners — Fuentes, 31, and brothers Francisco and Ricardo Guzman — also owns restaurants in other states. Fuentes travels regularly between Chittenden County and Berlin, N.H., where he operates La Casita. On one trip, he recalled, he took the wrong exit off Interstate 89 and found himself on the Barre-Montpelier Road, where he saw the empty Panera and thought the location seemed promising.

The restaurateur said the reception of Casa Real and Casa Grande has far exceeded the owners' expectations. "When we started, we didn't think we would do this so fast," Fuentes said of their growth. "We are grateful to all the people who like the restaurant and support us."