Popular Mexican Restaurant & Cantina Celebrates Grand Opening In Greenwood
Photographer: Erin Feldmeyer
Debbie Bosworth, operations manager for Luciana’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, says the process of opening a fourth location in Greenwood has been rather similar to each and every step of the restaurant’s three-year journey – that is to say, something of a whirlwind.
Back in 2015, Bosworth’s daughter Sarah Bravo and her husband Alberto made it their goal to launch a family-operated Mexican restaurant with a focus on fresh, house-made ingredients. Their dream was to open their eatery within 10 years, but fate soon sped up the process and 10 years became 10 weeks.
“Alberto had been working at La Hacienda near Binford Avenue, and around Cinco de Mayo in 2015 he and Sarah decided to make it a long-term dream to open their own business,” Bosworth says. “It was supposed to be this slow, long-term thing, but through word of mouth we visited the Broad Ripple Avenue location that had become available, and by September we opened. It’s hard to believe, looking back.”
The Bravos found themselves working around the clock to establish their restaurant as a community fixture and often had their baby Luciana – for whom the eatery is named – playing contentedly in a pack ’n play onsite while mom and dad made sure operations were running smoothly.
“Luciana was only a few months old back then, and the customers at Broad Ripple really watched her grow up that first year,” Bosworth says. “It was certainly a fast learning process, and we learned a lot in those first months about how to operate efficiently and successfully.”
Nine months later a second Luciana’s opened in the Clearwater Crossing shopping center on East 82nd Street, followed by a location in Columbus. Bosworth says the reason for opening a fourth location on Indy’s southside was simple — a growing demand for the fresh cuisine that the Bravos and their staff offer.
“We’ve had a lot of people drive from the southside over the years to our first two locations, and we actually were looking for a good spot on the southside before the Columbus opportunity came along and we got busy with that,” she says. “So we’ve been excited to have a presence on the southside, and the demand dictated it more than anything.”
The new location on State Road 135, previously occupied by Hal’s Fabulous Vegas Bar & Grille, houses a staff of about 35 and offers the same fresh ingredients on its menu as Luciana’s sister locations, cooked up in-house each and every day. Bosworth says the arroz con pollo, with chicken, house-made rice and queso, has been a favorite among Indy and Columbus patrons, as well as the chicken soup and fajitas.
She adds that Luciana’s queso, which is made fresh in-house in 90-pound batches, has become a culinary addiction for many a customer.
Burritos, quesadillas, tacos, nachos and chimichangas are all on offer, and other house specialties include the Steak a la Mexicana, a tender ribeye dish sautéed with jalapeños, onions, peppers and tomatoes, and the Camarones a la Diabla, which comes with sautéed and buttered shrimp and onions served in a spicy diablo sauce. Lunch specials are typically served Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the drink selection includes margaritas as well as draft and bottled beers.
“We’re actually in the process of doing a new menu, which we’re excited about, adding a few more traditional things and some vegetarian items,” Bosworth adds.
Bosworth feels fortunate that each of Luciana’s openings has been the natural outgrowth of a growing customer demand.
“We’ve not gone and looked for locations, they’ve come and found us because of the reputation of the food,” she says. “Alberto is very visionary and is a hard worker with high standards for the kind of food we serve. It’s always fresh-made — that’s very important to us.”
Luciana’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina is located at 1133 N. State Road 135 in Greenwood. Call 317-743-8925 or visit lucianasmexicanrestaurant.com for more info including dine-in and catering menus.
