Mexican Restaurants Hope to Feast on Cinco de Mayo Revelry : Holiday: Owners hurt by the recession plan special music and menus aimed at boosting business during the celebration.

ORANGE — Restaurateur Mark Fogelquist spent about $10,000 last week to bring in musicians from Guadalajara, Mexico, and San Antonio to entertain customers during the Cinco de Mayo holiday.

It is not unusual for Fogelquist, who runs El Mariachi restaurant in Orange, to do something special to boost business during the Mexican holiday. But this year he is doing a bit more. Like many Orange County restaurants, business at El Mariachi has been slow during the recession.

So he and his staff spent all day Wednesday hanging rainbow-colored streamers, balloons and pinatas from the ceilings and walls of the restaurant. A huge serape was draped around the stage as a backdrop for the bands that will play during the weekend: Viva Mexico and Little Joe y la Familia.

“Reservations are heavy, but we still have room,” said Fogelquist, who hopes that his customers will celebrate the holiday with gusto after “depriving themselves of good food and entertainment” since the recession’s start.

Cinco de Mayo--which celebrates the victory of an underdog Mexican army over a much larger force of well-armed French troops on May 5, 1862--is traditionally observed with good food and entertainment. In Southern California, it has become an annual event celebrated by Latinos and people of many other ethnic backgrounds--not unlike St. Patrick’s Day, when everyone becomes a little Irish.

In recent years, supermarkets, restaurateurs and other businesses have recognized the buying power of Latino consumers, as well as the increasing popularity of Cinco de Mayo among non-Latinos. Businesses have increasingly promoted the holiday during early May to promote products ranging from beer to frozen burritos.

Officials from Taco Bell and Del Taco, the fast-food chains specializing in Mexican food, say May is one of their busiest months. Both chains--whose clientele is predominantly non-Latino--plan regular promotions during the holiday to boost sales.

Del Taco officials are optimistic about an upturn in business during the celebration. “May is a very up time for our restaurants, with the fun kicking off just days before Cinco de Mayo,” said Paul Hitzelberger, secretary and vice president of marketing at the Costa Mesa-based company.

Since 1988, there has been a double-digit growth in sales in May. Part of the reason for is that Del Taco plans heavy promotions during the month, such as hiring mariachis to make the rounds of some of its more popular outlets.

The holiday could be especially important this year to small, family-run restaurants that cater mostly to Latinos.

Alfredo Amezcua, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Santa Ana, said the Gulf War and the recession have slowed business this year, resulting in scores of layoffs among local industries. Moreover, the statewide drought has idled many workers, particularly Latinos who work in agriculture or landscaping.

Restaurateurs “see the occasion as a way to recoup their losses,” he said of the holiday.

Owners of restaurants such as Rancho de Mendoza and Super Antojitos in Santa Ana, both of which cater mostly to Latinos, say business has been off since January but has bounced back in the last three weeks.

Umberto Huerta, owner of La Perlita, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Santa Ana, said May is usually a busy month because of Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day--an important family occasion for Mexican families.

Huerta said his catering services are increasingly in demand as more people celebrate the holiday. La Perlita will be catering four large banquets this weekend, one of which is for staff members at UC Irvine’s College of Medicine.

In preparation for today’s event, Huerta has decorated his restaurant with pinatas and placed tiny U.S. and Mexican flags on each table. Meals will be served on dishes decorated with Mexican flags as mariachis serenade his customers, Huerta said.

Amezcua said that although Mexicans generally regard Cinco de Mayo as a less important day than Sept. 16--Mexico’s independence day--it is an important occasion for businesses. The May 5 holiday is a cue for Latino-owned businesses to get in touch with customers, he said.

“This gives attorneys like me a chance to break bread with our clients and other members of the Latino business community,” he said.

The three-day street fair in downtown Santa Ana, which ends today, usually draws a large crowd. But the multitude of people that celebrate Cinco de Mayo on 4th Street between French and Ross streets in Santa Ana may not bring much relief to area businesses.

In fact, sales of some restaurants in downtown Santa Ana fell about May 5 in past years because food vendors participating in the fair compete with them by offering varied Mexican foods, according to Roger Kooi, manager of the downtown development division of the city Community Development Agency.

Vicente Sarmiento, who operates a bar-restaurant-dance hall in Santa Ana called Festival Hall, hopes to gain from this weekend’s celebration. Sales at Festival Hall are just half of normal this year.

He hired a 14-member band from Sinaloa, Mexico, to perform at the hall this weekend. And he has more than doubled his weekly advertising on Spanish-language radio stations and in newspapers, while cutting prices on food and liquor to attract more party-goers.

“It’s a gamble, but I hope it will work,” Sarmiento said.