Gwinnett Daily Post

252 W. Pike St., Lawrenceville

770-277-7140

• Open since: July 16

• Manager: Rosario Mendoza

• Location: GourMex is inside a decades-old building along Pike Street heading out of the downtown area, where Pura Enchilada once was located.

• Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. throughout the week

• Atmosphere: GourMex is situated in an old home just outside of the downtown area of Lawrenceville with a porch and wrap around parking lot.

For those who had dined at Pura Enchilada before will notice the new owners have made many changes in the interior.

Inside of the house, the walls pop with two different colors: bright orange and lime green. There are several tables and booths scattered throughout the two dining areas. There isn't much on the walls besides the paint and two television sets.

In the main dining room, there is a bar area keeping nonalcoholic drinks chilly, but no booze.

"We don't serve alcohol for now because we wanted to be a family restaurant," manager Rosario Mendoza said. "Maybe in the future, but not right now."

• Menu: The menu consists of Mexican food, but the establishment also offers Peruvian food.

The three most popular meals that patrons order are the fajitas, burritos and tortas, a Mexican sandwich served on a specific type of bread.

In a recent menu renovation, GourMex added a kids' menu to the mix complete with photos of all of the food. Instead of reading, children can select dinner by pointing at an image.

"Everything that we make is made with the freshest ingredients," Mendoza said. "That includes the meat, herbs and sauces."

All of the sauces and salsas are made from scratch, including a white salsa. Mendoza won't give out its secret ingredients except that it has tortillas mixed into the batch.

Another homemade favorite are the restaurant's aguas frescas, which loosely translates into "fresh waters." The drinks are actually made with fresh fruit juice (mango and pineapple) and other goodies (horchata, a cinnamon rice milk).

There are lunch specials available throughout weekdays.

• Things you might not know: GourMex is adding more Peruvian food to the menu.