El Mariachi, the new Mexican restaurant on Main Street, was continuously packed to its 80-person capacity during its grand opening Tuesday afternoon.

Luis Contreras, who runs the eatery, said it was not a steady stream of people coming in and out of the restaurant starting that afternoon, but a full house for the 13 hours it was open.

"It was nonstop," Contreras said. "We got a great response from the customers."

The opening purposefully coincided with Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday that commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over French troops at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

Contreras said he enjoyed getting to interact with the customers, but that he saw many things that need improvement in the restaurant.

"I have to work on a lot of things now, because I want to make everyone happy," Contreras said. "We have to provide a better service."

In order to provide a better service, Contreras said he plans to bring in three more experienced service personnel, who have worked with him before, to train the current staff of four waitresses and two bartenders.

Contreras also said earlier he plans to hire more staff for the new Wareham location, because of the number of people who attended the restaurant's soft opening Sunday evening. During the soft opening, Contreras said he and the staff just served customers appetizers and drinks, rather than a full menu.

Contreras is also looking forward to making changes in the restaurant’s menu and physical space, based on customer’s suggestions and its overall success.

“We are going to build a deck, so people can sit outside, because we have a great view in the back,” Contreras said earlier. “We are going to improve a lot of things, step by step."

Contreras is the nephew of restaurant lessee Jose Lopez. Lopez owns three other El Mariachi locations in the surrounding area. The new El Mariachi location in downtown Wareham is owned by Kalkanis Realty Trust, which also owns Minerva Pizzeria down the street from the new Mexican eatery.