Editor’s note: Things change frequently in the restaurant business, and this article was written more than one year ago. The menu, service, atmosphere, prices and quality may have changed.

Locations: 744 NW Bond St., Bend; 2570 NE Twin Knolls Drive, Bend; 64637 Cook Ave, Tumalo.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Price Range: $5.50 to $8.95 for lunch, $6 to $17.25 for dinner

Alcoholic Beverages: Full bar

Kids’ Menu: Available

Reservations: Accepted

Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover

Contact: Downtown 322-8916; east side 318-1492; Tumalo 322-8821

Carlos Anaya was no stranger to the restaurant business when he and his brother, Roberto, opened El Caporal, a family Mexican restaurant, on Bend’s east side in 1997.

Carlos Anaya had worked with other relatives in restaurants in Washington and California since he immigrated from Mexico in 1983. He knew the business inside and out, he said, and was ready to open his own place.

That explains why El Caporal – which means ranch boss – serves standard and unusual Mexican fare with a fun and experienced attitude. The precision of the wait staff, consistency of the food and the fiesta atmosphere are elements Anaya said he wants to promote in his restaurants.

Celebrating a birthday? Out comes the sombrero and the Polaroid camera, with a complimentary shot of something for the (adult) birthday boy or girl. The waiters toss in a birthday song in Spanish.

The restaurants are decorated with sombreros on the wall, tile mosaics on mock hacienda doorways, hand-painted murals and a pastel palette.

Most of the restaurant’s recipes come from different parts of Mexico, Anaya said, near where he grew up. Mazatlan was the inspiration for the seafood recipes, like tacos de pescado, or halibut-filled tacos with pico de gallo and avocado. Anaya’s home state of Jalisco in central Mexico supplied the standard chicken and beef recipes, like chicken en mole, a sweet-spicy Mexican sauce that makes this dish one of the restaurant’s most popular.

Anaya admits to improvising on some recipes. Arroz con pollo, chicken sauteed with vegetables, has a Cuban influence, he said.

El Caporal is named for Carlos and Robert Anaya’s father, Pastor Anaya, who was a caporal in Jalisco. Roberto Anaya said his father still manages to visit Bend twice a year, which is important to the Anayas because they are focused on family.

”I’ve been all over, and Bend is one of the greatest places to grow your family,” Carlos Anaya said.

Roberto notes that there are daily specials running through the lunch and dinner menus. He says that there may be live music or other entertainment in the future.

For now, Roberto says that he ”invites people to come and eat.”

In the meantime, El Caporal will continue to offer locals a fiesta spot and a chance to sample an array of margaritas.