Jack Janes
Staff Writer
Zendejas Mexican Restaurant in San Dimas hosted a Labor Day party on Sunday, featuring live DJs and bands that included Jumpin’ Jack Benny, Steel Rod and Soto.
Zendejas is a Mexican sports bar owned by Tony Zendejas, who was a placekicker in the NFL for 11 years, including four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams from 1991 to 1994. With TVs lined up along the walls and music blasting, it is a popular place to hang out with friends.
The intense heat outside did not stop people from coming out and enjoying themselves.
When doors opened at 2 p.m., it was a smothering 107 degrees outside.
There were buckets of ice-cold beer at almost every table to try to beat the heat, as well as dozens of fans set up by Zendejas employees around the restaurant.
But to no one’s surprise, nobody sat on the outdoor patio so everyone was squeezed into the restaurant.
Shortly after the doors opened, a live DJ started playing 1980s funk hits and the crowd became more lively. As time went on, more people started filling in and the party started to pick up.
There was a very friendly and upbeat atmosphere and it seemed that pretty much everyone knew one another.
There were even quite a few Los Angeles Dodgers fans in attendance to watch them play on Sunday Night Baseball and throughout the night you would hear scattered cheering when the Dodgers did something good.
Hope Zendejas, office manager, said her favorite thing about hosting events like this is watching people having a good time and enjoying music.
Longtime customer Blanca Lerna said she comes to Zendejas’ events often because she loves the atmosphere and how everyone is friendly. Lerna was there with her daughter, enjoying the music, drinks and dancing in front of the stage with the other dancers in the crowd.
Former Zendejas employee Jasmine Gomez said she now only comes to the big events but what brings her back are the people. Gomez said her favorite thing about Zendejas is the people, and that means everyone from the regulars, the waiters and waitresses, to the people cleaning dishes.
Jumpin’ Jack Benny was the first live band to perform and their smooth blues rock set the tone for how the night was going to go. Lead singer Benny Cortez was rocking shades and a straw hat as he switched between playing the tambourine and harmonica. The combination of the harmonica with smooth guitar riffs teamed up for an upbeat vibe that had everyone there feeling loose.
The next band to take the stage was a cover band called Steel Rod.
The first few songs played were classic 1980s hits like “Jessie’s Girl” and “867-5309/Jenny” but then jumped to a couple of popular Bruno Mars songs in “Treasure” and “Uptown Funk.”
Then from there, Steel Rod played a wide variety of hits from the 1980s until now, giving each song a little more rock ‘n’ roll than the original. It was very impressive to hear songs like “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe, “It Was a Good Day” by Ice Cube and “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot with a rock ‘n’ roll sound.
“We’ll do country if we have to, R&B music, rap, it depends on the crowd,” Rod Pantoja, singer and guitarist for Steel Rod, said. “It changes every weekend. Our shows are never the same twice.”
The final band that performed to cap off a lively night was Soto. The Latin – funk – R&B dance band opened their set with a cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” with their own R&B twist to it that made the song sound smooth like butter.
The charismatic lead singer, DeVaughn Roseman, interacted with the crowd throughout the show as he was often dancing with those who danced in front of the stage.
Jack Janes can be reached at jack.janes@laverne.edu.
Jack Janes, a senior journalism major, is sports editor of the Campus Times and a staff writer for La Verne Magazine. He is also a staff photographer for both publications. He previously served as a Campus Times staff writer.
