GULF SHORES, Ala. – Steve Hunt’s history in the restaurant business has a distinctively Mexican flavor.

The veteran restaurateur was one of the first to open an eatery in the remodeled Ho-Jo Inn at the corner of Alabama 182 and East First Avenue in Gulf Shores back in the 1990s.

“I was the original here,” he said from a fourth-floor perch with a view of the Gulf.

With a plethora of restaurants opening in recent weeks on Pleasure Island, and several others rumored to be in the planning phases, the Islander is trying to profile the newer ones. This is the third in an ongoing series.

Previously Bikini Wings on Alabama 182 in the Publix shopping center and Ya Ya’s Country Café in the shopping center near the corner of Canal Road and Alabama 161 were featured.

Hunt ran the restaurant in the remodeled Ho-Jo, named Jalapenos, from 1995 until 2002 before he sold it to concentrate on his other establishment, Cactus Café in Foley. A fire in that building and the daunting task of remodeling a 1917 building led to the demise of Cactus Café.

Much to the delight of local diners, he and wife Alexandra are back again in the old spot.

“I just reopened and I just bought it back,” Hunt said. “It’s been vacant for a while and they made me a good deal on this. We’ve been opened about three weeks. The response has been wonderful. The locals have been coming to find us again, locals from years ago have been finding us and it’s just been really nice.”

Hunt says his latest restaurant is based on a simple formula.

“If you had to identify us we would be a real mom-and-pop joint,” he said, citing Alexandra’s vital role in the operation. “Alexandra is a big help. She can fill in just about anywhere like if I’m sick or something. She can jump behind the line if need be.”

Hunt hopes to replicate the initial success of Jalapenos with his different take on Mexican flavors.

“If you had to define us I’d say we were a northern Mexican food, authentic Mexican food,” he said. “That’s your chili rellenos, that’s the type of spices we use. Lots of cumin, lots of cilantro, we have a couple of fish dishes, we cook a lot of shrimp dishes. We still have some Tex-Mex like your tacos, burritos, enchiladas, basically American.

“We have all Hispanics working in the kitchen except for me. And I usually hide. I usually try to work the floor.” Hunt says Chef Juan Rodriguez has worked for him in various restaurants for 15 years.

There are things on Jalapenos menu Hunt believes sets it apart.

“We have our specialties,” he said. “We have some things I’ve taken from all over northern Mexican and southern Texas and even some California stuff, some avocado dishes. We have fish tacos made with sautéed cabbage and stuff like that.”

Hunt says one of the restaurant’s take on the burrito is definitely different as are the stuffed jalapenos.

“A sizzling burrito is also one of our signature items,” he said. “It’s a burrito that comes out on a sizzling platter like the fajitas do, and on a bed of onions.

“We stuff our own jalapenos. They don’t come in a box. We overstuff ‘em, hand bread ‘em and drop ‘em in a pan and fry ‘em and turn ‘em over. Chicken breast, white cheese, fresh garlic, cilantro, onion and tomato and mix up the mixture and stuff ‘em. Occasionally we’ll run a special and stuff ‘em with shrimp during a weekend.”

Jalapenos, Hunt said, concentrates on fresh in almost all its dishes.

“Everything we make daily,” he said. “We make our own chips, we make our own tortillas, stuff our own chili rellenos. There’s nothing we buy out of a box and fry it except for chicken fingers for kids and French fries, that’s it.”

Hunt, who has owned “five or six restaurants” in Baldwin County during the years, got his start in the business as a 14-year-old dishwasher. In his 20s he began working for a Mexican restaurant and found his niche.

“I grew up in Dallas and I was a district manager for a small Mexican chain there,” he said. “I started out as a bartender and I was going to school and little by little I got to know the owner and we expanded and I was fortunate enough to be a part of it.”

Hunt learned the flavors he favors by making trips to Monterrey and sampling the food there while running restaurants in Texas. Chef Rodriguez is from Monterrey as well.