Inca Mexican Restaurant turns 35
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 months, 4 weeks AGO
Musicians from Mariachi Noroeste perform at Inca Mexican Restauarant’s 35th birthday celebration Thursday.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
From left: Inca Mexican Restaurant Owner Jose Rodriguez, Manager Martin Rodriguez and Radio La Pera broadcaster Rafael Aguilar stop for a photo at Inca’s 35th birthday celebration Thursday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | August 26, 2025 3:30 AM
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake restaurant celebrated 35 years of serving up Hispanic deliciousness Thursday. Incan Mexican Restaurant, a hard-to-miss business at the corner of East Third Avenue and S. Pioneer Way in Moses Lake has been serving giant plates of nachos, quesadillas and tacos to diners since 1990.
Rafael Aguilar of La Pera Radio TV in East Wenatchee made live broadcasts and served as master of ceremonies and Mariachi Noroeste strode through Inca Mexican Restaurant on East Third Avenue in Moses Lake playing traditional Mexican music.
Inca’s owner, Jose Rodriguez said that when he opened Inca Mexican Restaurant in 1990, there were a few small Mexican eateries, but not a lot of full-service Mexican dining available.
“This is why I decided to come here, because we needed it,” he said.
Rodriguez already had one restaurant in Kennewick, also called Inca, which is still going strong, he said. In the 35 years since coming to Moses Lake, he’s also opened Hacienda Del Sol in Pasco, Fuego in Kennewick and two more Inca Restaurants, in Fort Collins, Colo., and Sioux Falls, S.D.
Inca has an average rating of 4.0 on the travel website Tripadvisor, which also rated it No. 11 out of 97 restaurants in Moses Lake. Reviewers cited its authentic, plentiful Mexican food, and pleasant atmosphere.
The name is a bit of a mystery, since the Inca Empire existed in Peru, thousands of miles from Mexico. The answer isn’t rooted in history but in public relations, Rodriguez said.
“(It’s) because there’s only four letters in Inca, and people memorize it very quickly,” he said. “It’s easy to remember, to put on a sign (or) to make into a logo.”
Overall, Rodriguez’ restaurants employ about 450 people, he said, about 35 of them in Moses Lake. His brother Martin Rodriguez is the manager of the Moses Lake restaurant.
“I think everything's doing OK,” Jose Rodriguez said. “The town is pretty good, and people are so nice and friendly.”
From left: Inca Mexican Restaurant Owner Jose Rodriguez, Manager Martin Rodriguez and Radio La Pera broadcaster Rafael Aguilar stop for a photo at Inca’s 35th birthday celebration Thursday.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Warden library hosts Mexican dance show
WARDEN — The dancers of Warden’s Ballet Folklórico Viva México performed at the Warden Library Thursday afternoon, entertaining one of the largest crowds a library event has drawn, said Librarian Jean Boersma. “We were pushing 100,” Boersma said. “They just kept coming.” About 15 dancers of wide-ranging ages and sizes demonstrated traditional moves from Mexico on the library lawn, in both denim shorts and skirts and full, flowing dresses in bright colors. The audience sat or stood in the shade of the tree on the library lawn, many of them holding up phones to capture the moment on video. After each dance, one dancer would shout, “Viva Mexico!” and the dancers would enthusiastically respond, “Viva!”
Man arrested in Thursday morning hit-and-run
MOSES LAKE — A suspect was taken into custody Thursday afternoon in the hit-and-run of a county road worker early Thursday morning, according to Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman. Trino Mendez, 36, was booked into Grant County Jail on suspicion of hit-and-run attended complicity and vehicular assault, according to the Grant County Jail roster. No bail had been set as of Friday morning. The incident happened around 5:10 a.m. on North Frontage Road about a mile east of Dodson Road, according to the GCSO. Road crews were preparing the road for chip sealing when the worker was struck.
‘A Gathering of Ologists’
Floodfest brings Basin history and science to life Saturday
COULEE CITY — Just about anything anyone could want to know about the Columbia Basin will be on display Saturday at the Ice Age Floodfest at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park. “Floodfest is a gathering of ‘ologists,’” said Washington State Parks Interpretive Specialist David McWalter. “We’ve got archaeologists, geologists, geomorphologists, biologists, historians.”