[solita] – It is no wonder that solita Tacos & Margaritas has south-of-the border cuisine down to a perfected craft, considering that it is the product of a partnership between two restaurant veterans and an Executive Chef with five Mexican cookbooks under her belt (and a sixth on the way). But the casual and friendly neighborhood spot always wants to strive for things greater than just what is cooked and concocted within their restaurant walls; they also want to support their community.  So to celebrate the official Grand Opening of its new Valencia location, solita Tacos & Margaritas is throwing a blowout celebration on Thursday, Feb. 5, that will highlight both their authentic cuisine and delicious cocktails, while also supporting the benefiting charity, the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley.

At the February 5th fiesta, there will be complimentary eats all night long, but drinks will be for sale, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go to the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley, an organization offering education, leadership, sports and arts programs to needy youth in the area. “We are a community-driven company, and it was really important to find a cause that is not just important to us, but that is also important to the community,” says Co-Founder and Director of Operations Matt Baumayr. “We have a very lofty goal of raising enough money to fund the programming of twenty of our local youth for one year at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita, which is $10,000.00. Being that Santa Clarita Valley is so community driven, it is a goal we hope to achieve, if not surpass.”

The solita Tacos & Margaritas Grand Opening soiree will kick-off with a ribbon-cutting hosted by the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, who Baumayr says has been truly instrumental in helping solita Tacos & Margaritas launch successfully in Valencia. “It is a really strong chamber,” he says, “and they have welcomed us with arms wide open.”

solita Tacos & Margaritas hopes to draw upwards of 600 guests to the affair, where the party really kicks off with solita serving lavish amounts of their signature cuisine complimentary “all night long,” that will include a Fresh Guacamole Station with fresh mango, tomato, onion, chile and cilantro alongside their House-made Tortilla Chips and Duros. The Taco Bar will feature some of Executive Chef Deborah Schneider’s famous Baja-inspired wood-grilled and smoked dishes ranging from their Wood-Grilled Ancho Chile Chicken, Carne Asada, Pork Carnitas and much, much more.

The “buck” doesn’t stop there! To accommodate all in attendance, and to optimize the funds being raised throughout this special evening, there will be three bars so that everyone can imbibe with delight and toast to a wonderful cause by enjoying eight Specialty Margaritas, over 40 Tequilas and many other cocktail creations in exchange for donations to the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley.

“The goal is to support a worthy cause while we bring people in, tell our story and give them a real feel for solita Tacos & Margaritas, who we are, and what we are doing here in Valencia specifically,” Baumayr says. “Valencia is a town that spoke to us when we were looking for our next location. The sense of community was so strong, and we are so proud to now be a part of it.”

The dream that became solita Tacos & Margaritas began when Baumayr, living in San Diego, fell in love with the casual roadside restaurants of Mexico’s nearby Baja region and convinced his former boss and mentor, Founder of the RA Sushi concept Rich Howland to join him in a new venture. A little research led the pair to ¡Baja! Cooking on the Edge, one of the first English-language cookbooks highlighting the cuisine of the region. And by sheer coincidence, it turned out the author, Schneider, lived less than a mile from Baumayr’s home. A veteran of the 8-kitchen, 200-employee Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and the first female Executive Chef in the entire Hilton Hotel chain, Schneider has culinary prowess to spare, and deep expertise in authentic Mexican food.

Schneider was thrilled to come on board with Baumayr and Howland to open their own place, which opened in 2009 and became Sol Cocina in Newport Beach. That led to a second location in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the first solita Tacos & Margaritas in Huntington Beach a little over a year ago. In contrast to Sol Cocina’s higher-end atmosphere, solita Tacos & Margaritas aims to be a reinvention of the neighborhood restaurant that maintains its older sister’s dedication to authenticity and quality. “We wanted to build a great restaurant with excellent food where you could still walk out the door full (and with a buzz) for twenty bucks,” Baumayr says.

As solita Tacos & Margaritas gears up for the official Grand Opening of their Valencia location in the Westfield Valencia Town Center, they invite members of the community and beyond to join them, spread the word, and support a worthy cause within the community. Your attendance will not just be meaningful to the solita Tacos & Margaritas team, but more importantly, it will be meaningful to the children they strive to make a difference for in Santa Clarita Valley.

solita Tacos & Margaritas Valencia’s Grand Opening Fundraiser will run from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Thursday, February 5^th 2015. For more information about this event or how to RSVP, please call solita Tacos & Margaritas Valencia directly at 661.291.1399 or please visit solita Tacos & Margaritas Grand Opening.