About

About Hacienda Mexican Restaurant

Making authentic Mexican food has been Basilio Gallo's life story and passion. Spicy aromas have filled the dining room at Hacienda Mexican Restaurant since 1987, where Basilio’s American dream came to life. Every meal is a beautiful south of the border experience. 

"I grew up in Mexico, my parents were farmers – cattle and corn” he says. He always dreamed of a better life in the USA. In 1973, Basilio left his family farm for California.  He started out in a small, rented room while attending school. Two years later he worked his way up from dishwasher to a line cook in a Mexican restaurant. From there, he moved to San Francisco, worked at a coffee shop and a seafood restaurant.  In 1986, he moved to Anchorage to visit family and fell in love with Alaska, a place to call home and start his own family. He began at Gallos Restaurant in 1987 and shortly after, opened his own establishment in 1992 with Hacienda Mexican Restaurant.

Back then, it was a "one-man operation," Basilio recounts. "The restaurant business is what I know". To grow his business in those early days, he used his marketing skills offering 2 or the price of one coupon, made delicious Mexican food, and the rest is history – because of the loyalty of the community he loves. Patrons of all ages and backgrounds come to experience Don Basilio's hospitality and keep coming back, "word of mouth always has my best advertising."

Today, you can find Basilio behind the bar making margaritas or in the kitchen creating his favorite menu items such as his very own Chicken Chipotle, or sautéing fajitas, working alongside his family and keeping his dream alive. In addition to the successful and well-loved Hacienda Mexican Restaurant in East Anchorage, Basilio also owns and operates two other restaurant locations, La Cabana Mexican Restaurant in the Downtown Anchorage and Hacienda in the Matanuska Valley.