Aptos restaurant celebrates 50 years of business.

An Aptos restaurant is celebrating 50 years of business. Manuel’s Mexican Restaurant held a ribbon cutting with its owners Monday in hopes of achieving another 50 years of business.

They received letters from the California State Assembly, U.S. Congress and Santa Cruz County.

Owner Leonardo Santana said the secret to success is listening to customers and keeping service consistent. He also said reasonable prices are important so everyone can enjoy their food.

“The history of it is basically just feeding families, and that’s where we come from,” Santana said.

In honor of this big moment, the restaurant will donate half of its sales to local charities for the next week.