After recently reopening the Leland Cafe, owners Max and Jesus Acosta are getting ready to open another dining establishment in Leland where patrons can sup on fresh seafood and sip on uniquely crafted cocktails — Acosta’s Restaurant.
Located at what was formerly Vince’s, 207 N. Main St., Acosta’s Restaurant is preparing to open its doors in roughly two weeks.
Max and Jesus have been putting the finishing touches on the venue and will announce the grand opening date in the coming days.
One thing that’s for certain though, is their excitement and eagerness to bring an extraordinary dining experience accompanied by live entertainment to downtown Leland.
The menu will feature steaks and seafood such as the popular seafood boil bags, redfish, raw and baked oysters, scallops as well as specialty cocktails which are described as “a new twist on your old classics.”
Occasionally, Acosta’s Restaurant will feature the famous “Tomahawk” steak on its menu.
Restaurant hours will be 4-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Friday and Saturday.
Friday and Saturday nights will feature music and live bands.
“We’re trying to keep Leland a little bit more fun. It’s already an amazing town,” Max said when asked about the idea to open the restaurant.
After moving to Leland about nine months ago and coming across the vacant restaurant building that was Vince’s, he and co-owner Jesus saw the potential to, in their own way, give the city “a little something more.”
He noted they were actually looking for a location to open another nutrition shop, such as their Cleveland Nutrition shop, which specializes in loaded teas and shakes.
Then, it dawned on them that with Max’s seven plus years of experience working in the restaurant industry along with Jesus’ experience and business savvy, there was a prime opportunity to make such an investment in one of the most historically significant cities in the Mississippi Delta.
“I used to be a manager, server and bartender so we know how things run and I’ve worked in the American, Mexican and Italian food industry. So I said, “Ok, if other people can do it, we can do it,”” Max said.
Acknowledging how it isn’t always smooth sailing in running such an operation, he said, “Yes you might have your ups and downs and sometimes it’s going to be hard, but sometimes it’s going to be super easy.”
Jesus highlighted the live music rendered on Friday and Saturday nights will have more of a “Blues vibe” because after all, as he put it, “We’re in the Delta.”
In addition to livening up Leland’s downtown scene, Max and Jesus are endeavoring to bring more jobs to the area as well as helping to retain some.
One way in which they accomplished that was by purchasing Leland Cafe, which is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday with limited Saturday hours.
Leland Cafe now has the traditional, diner-style breakfast and lunch offerings, Jesus shared.
“So we’ll have like your traditional southern breakfast or diner breakfast, similar to waffle house, but with our own flair,” he said. “We did incorporate breakfast burritos and we also have like waffles, pancakes, omelettes and big breakfast sandwiches.”
Max and Jesus gave a healthy indication that their contributions to the City of Leland will not stop with just the restaurants.
While their chief motivation is to support their parents and family, they are just as motivated to help downtown Leland’s potential be realized.
“If both of our restaurants bloom like we want them to bloom, we have great things coming to Leland,” Max said.
