When he had time, he’d bring his dinner out of the kitchen to eat with his favorites, always quipping, “I forgot my lunch!” In 1999, they hung up their aprons for good and sold the restaurant. He’d wander from table to table with his coffee cup, chatting the people up. If Ardith was the business-mind of the restaurant, Arnold was the heart. They worked the “two-business” model believing people would come in for a taco and buy a dresser.
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He and Ardith had the idea to furnish their restaurant entirely in antiques (all for sale) and later added a wing that became a beautiful shop, full of collectables acquired from their many road trips across the states. Over the years their customers became family and people talk about Arnold’s delicious food to this day. In 1978, Arnold and Ardith opened the final Mexican Villa in Colfax, California.
He made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that night (and Ardith found it in her heart to forgive him for leaving during the dinner rush.) A year later, without warning, Arnold abruptly left a restaurant full of customers to attend a Revival at a local church. In 1971, they relocated to the Sierra Foothills and opened a restaurant in Rough and Ready, CA. They quickly outgrew the tiny lunch counter and within a couple of years had two dining rooms and a Cocktail Lounge. In 1964, he followed his older brothers into the restaurant business and opened The Mexican Villa in Pinole, CA. He covered every mile of the SF Bay Area. Upon returning home, he drove trucks for UPS and then Smoked Prime Meats. Although the Korean Conflict was raging, Arnold spent most of his time stationed in Germany. In 1950, newly wed, he joined the Air Force and would serve four years. After graduating from Richmond High, he married Ardith Porter, a union that would last 64 years.
They were drawn by hope of greater opportunity – as many were in the 1940’s.
When he was a young teen, the family moved to Richmond, CA. Arnold Solis was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the sixth of 8 children.
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