Casa Nueva recently celebrated its 30 anniversary.
Whether it’s for a drink after work, a heavy metal show, trivia night or Mexican food, people venture to Casa Nueva for their fix.
“We kind of think of ourselves sometimes as the living room of Athens,” Grace Corbin, the marketing coordinator, said. “Anyone is welcome to come in and pretty much use our space for whatever their needs are, as long as they're not offensive to anyone else.”
Casa, located at 6 W. State St., recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a night of music, dancing, awards and speeches. The annual anniversary party is a way to celebrate how the business has been maintained and sustained since its inception.
The establishment was developed in 1985, following the shutdown of a restaurant named Casa Que Pasa. In 1993, Casa expanded to the first part of the Cantina. Then in 2004, Casa became the place many people know it as now.
Casa has always operated as a cooperative, also known as a co-op, which allows the employees to make decisions through a collective committee rather than having a boss or manager. The members are in charge.
Until 2000, everyone working there was either a trial member, an associate or a worker-owner. Worker-owners have ownership in the business and can vote in the committee meetings. Trial members aspire to be worker-owners. Associates want to work at the place of business but do not have ownership.
But as the business grew, more people were hired even if they weren’t interested in ownership, Candida Stamp, the human resources coordinator, said.
But even if someone does not own part of the business, Corbin said that person is still able to voice concerns about the menu, business and specific area of work. Consequently, the person's input is considered.
“We pretty much treat everyone as if everyone was an owner," Stamps, a Casa employee for nearly 16 years, said. "Everyone is treated equally.”
Through discussion by committee, Casa has changed and developed during its 30 years, including expansions, menu changes and the no-tipping policy.
Casa has 24 owners and more than 50 associates, said Corbin, a Casa employee for about five-and-a-half years. The business's operations constantly change because there are always different owners with new ideas, she added.
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Similar to how the business changes, so do the customers on any given night. The crowd fluctuates from professors meeting with students, to people coming for an after-work drink and couples having a date night, Corbin said.
“There are a lot of acts that play here at night," Stamp said. "The trivia night is going to have a completely different crowd than a hippie-jam band playing."
Some regulars eat there twice a day, Corbin said. It’s not uncommon to see a familiar face while working and to know the person’s name or order.
“People do get sheepish when they start to get recognized,” Corbin said. “Then once they lose that, they know our name and we know their name. It kind of breaks the barrier down between employee and customer.”
The personable quality is felt even within the business.
“This was really my first job where I felt like Athens was becoming my home and it is a really unique experience to have a thumb on the community by working here,” Nick Riggenbach, a Casa cook and bartender, said.
Most of Casa’s food comes from 30 different Ohio-based food producers, and Corbin said the T-shirts and menus are both made locally.
“There is a lot of labor that goes into our products,” Stamp said. “A lot of restaurants just buy frozen things and plop it down in a bowl to thaw it out. But we actually make all our salsas. We chop all our vegetables. We don’t just buy them frozen.”
At Casa, the workers have the ability to try a position that peaks their interest, Corbin said. Prior to being a marketing coordinator, Corbin tried working in the kitchen for a few months.
“I tried it, and everyone was OK with my trying it,” Corbin said. “And everyone was OK with saying I no longer want to do it because it just wasn’t for me.”
Riggenbach added that being able to work in different positions is part of the reason he has stayed for five years.
“It’s a place where I can keep developing different skill sets," he said. "That’s probably the highlight — the ‘Casa College’ is what we’ve dubbed.”
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