Like any new foreigner, the first thing you do is ask around for local suggestions on where to eat and hang out. I’ve been in Playa Del Carmen for over a month now, trying as many places as possible (budget permitting), flagging those I liked. I had quickly discovered that some of the best places were owned by a team of local entrepreneurs. This team started small, worked hard, and were once again raising eyebrows with the launch of a new beach club called Canibal Royal. Who were the people behind the most talked about hot spots in Playa Del Carmen?

I sat down with Marcela Regalado who’s responsible for coordinating the marketing and public relations for the groups investments (La Santanera, Diablito Cha Cha Cha, Canibal Royal and Los Aguachiles) and founder Alberto Martinez. Alberto recalled his decision to move from Monterrey, Mexico over 15 years ago and how they went about starting their first club, La Santanera;

“I remember when this was a fisherman’s town….I fell in love with this place. I started visiting as often as I could and then one of my best friends came to live here. He suggested that we should open a bar here.”

The idea was kicked around the year 2000 and the launch of La Santanera took place in 2003. He along with best friend and partner “Alex” Gamez completed the décor personally, along with help from friends, as they had a falling out with the architect. When I asked how he and Alex chose the name La Santanera they explained that it was based on a famous Mexican wrestler named El Santo (the saint);

“We wanted to have a Mexican touch at La Santanera. We tried to include many sub-culture references like wrestling. You see, here in Mexico we don’t have many heroes like superman. We had El Santo….he became an icon, a Mexican hero”

The partners had limited funds. They couldn’t afford the high commercial rent beachfront owners were demanding so they settled on a property further up the street on 12th. Like any new venture, it took a lot of hard work. Alberto says; “we were competing with the clubs located on the beach”. The partners decided early on to be very loyal to the idea that they wouldn’t play commercial music. The strategy paid off as they slowly gained creditability with the locals which Alberto thanked repeatedly; “thanks to the locals we started doing good business in the bad and good seasons” Locals enjoyed the unique music, the free cover charge and relaxed atmosphere. Word spread that this was a club frequented by locals which began to attract tourists who wanted to be with locals. Marcela said that there wasn’t a secret formula; the team would constantly work at it listening to local feedback, trying to balance the needs of both locals and tourists.

After La Santanera came their next venture, Diablito Cha Cha Cha. Alberto explained that there was a need for a good seafood restaurant in Playa Del Carmen, especially one where people could enjoy good music and “people watch”. I asked the partners if they spent a lot of money on marketing Diablito Cha Cha Cha and they replied; “the best advertising is word of mouth…..we didn’t have a PR or marketing team. Instead we decided to invest in quality.” Knowing that the restaurant business was foreign to them, the partners decided to approach Jorge Urena, owner of several successful restaurants in Monterrey, Mexico. His expertise would be crucial in ensuring that the team produced high quality dishes.

At this point these Mexican entrepreneurs had successfully created 2 of the most popular businesses in Playa Del Carmen. They continued expanding by becoming partners in Playa’s hottest taco restaurant, Los Aguachiles;

“we became partners with “Wicho”….he’s a friend, a painter that moved to Playa Del Carmen who thought about opening a little place, working a little bit, painting a lot and suddenly he was working a lot and painting a little!”

They became close friends as Wicho would frequently eat at Diablito Cha Cha Cha and Alberto admitted eating at Wichos at least 3 times per week. Alberto and team employ just over 200 people and would offer their operations expertise in helping run Los Aguachiles. They plan to open another one and see strong growth potential for this particular brand.

For the longest time the team wanted to open a beach club but the commercial leases were just too high. There was a piece of beachfront property on Coco Beach that had been in a legal dispute for several years which was suddenly made available as the dispute was resolved. Coincidentally, Alberto knew the owner of the property: “the owner is the mother of the doctor that I see….we became very good friends” and eventually they worked out an agreement. This would allow the Mexican entrepreneurs the location they needed to open Canibal Royal. The vision was to create a relaxed restaurant / lounge on the beach with a retro design. Marcela explained that guests can enjoy unique music spun by the teams DJ’s which now includes the teams newest partner (of Canibal Royal) Rob Garza from Thievery Corporation. How they met Rob was interesting.

The team was enjoying drinks one evening at bar called Ula Gula when the DJ began playing Thievery Corporation. It just so happened that Rob was there visiting Playa and decided to formally introduce himself to the owner and DJ. After the introductions were made, the team became good friends and Rob would eventually invest into the new venture. Thievery Corporation performed on Canibals opening night which I was fortunate enough to hear live.

I asked them what advice they would give to others considering opening a business here in Playa Del Carmen? Alberto sat back, sun shinning on his aviators, smiled and said “you must have your own personality and be loyal to that.” Was this their secret?