The kitchen door swings on its hinges, revealing the assembly line for tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, burritos, tamales and taquitos.

Inside, warmed flour tortillas are stacked, beef tips cooked and seasoned, the white cheese peppered and melted into sauce, avocados creamed into guacamole and tomatoes and onions diced.

He places the plate of chilies poblanos on the table in front of the customer.

"Gracias."

"De nada," Alfredo says.

Cutting into a chili with the end of her fork, white "Mexican" cheese flows onto the plate.

"This is Mexican food for Americans," Alfredo says, a wide smile stretching his black moustache across his full cheeks.

The Mexican cuisine that is slightly altered for the American taste buds isn't the only thing cooking at El Campesino, a restaurant on Kent road in Stow that opened about seven months ago. The blend of Mexican, American and indigenous cultures in the restaurant creates an atmosphere that attracts customers. This is evident not only by the cuisine but by the music, decorations on the walls and the mix of Spanish and English chatter between waiters and customers.

"They made me order in Spanish," says Staci Hyman, a senior at Jackson High School.

Hyman is here to practice the language and to pick up on a little culture from the "environment" in the restaurant. She is with four other high school students. All of them will travel this summer to Latin American countries as volunteers with Amigos de Las Americas.

"The whole thing is a learning experience for me," says Kyla Springer, a sophomore at Kent Roosevelt High School.

This is the second time the group of students has met at the restaurant.

"Se–oritas, toda esta bien?" (Ladies, is everything good?)

"Si'," they reply.

There's a constant hum of English, Spanish and Spanglish-a cross between the two-in the dining area.

The customers seem to enjoy ordering their food or making small talk with the waiters in Spanish. It's a real-live chance to practice what they've learned in school.

The male servers, originally from either Guanajuato or Jalisco, Mexico, gladly speak with their customers in Spanish. Of course it's up to the customers to make the first move.

Basic Spanish will suffice. Something like: "Hola. Que pasa?"

"We talk about just about anything, like family and other light-hearted conversation," says Emily Walter, a senior at Kent Roosevelt High School. "I can speak Spanish with my friends, but this is different. They're all native speakers, and you don't get that anywhere else." Jennifer Dominguez, a senior at Roosevelt, says she feels a connection with the employees at El Campesino.

"My mother is from Cuba, and we come here to speak Spanish," she says. "This is the only place where there's real Mexicans."

Dominguez, a regular customer, says she was recently hired at El Campesino as a hostess.

The employees of the restaurant communicate with each other in Spanish.

A few employees sit down at a booth in the smoking section. They're rapidly chatting away. A careful eavesdropper might be able to pick up a few words, enough to know they are telling a joke.

The art and decorations that trim the inside of El Campesino offer more proof of the restaurant's cultural blend.

A large circular wooden collage is tacked onto the wall in front of the kitchen entrance.

It's a "calendario Azteca" (an Aztec calendar), said Jamie DeLapaz, manager at Stow and cousin of the owner of all the five El Campesino restaurants.

He says he doesn't understand it, but points to the eyes of different animals that are hidden in the collage.

"The eyes are important," is all DeLapaz says.

The eyes from the animals are actually pieces of the symbols that are paired up with different days of the Aztec month, according to the Aztec Web Page. Aztec belief says that each of the culture's gods is given time during each month in which to rule.

There are two traditional, black sombreros mounted high on the wall. Below them hang brightly-colored, striped cloaks.

"Those are gabanas," DeLapaz says.

He walks behind the cash register and pulls out a gabana that's been stored on a shelf. He pulls it around his shoulders, gathering loose cloth in his folded right arm to form a small cradle.

"Ladies used to carry their kids with these," he says. "But not much anymore."

He says his mother carried him with one.

A couple of employees poke their heads out of the kitchen. They point and laugh at the sight of their boss wearing a woman's gabana.

Mounted next to the cash register on the creamy-mint wall is a wooden square with the national Mexican symbol on it, an eagle with a snake in its mouth. Above the eagle reads: "Estados Unidos Mexicanos." (Mexican states united).

The indigenous symbol is on the Mexican flag, as well as the country's currency.

An American icon that's also on the wall is hard to miss. It's a small stuffed Speedy Gonzales. The little animated doll is tacked up below the eagle symbol.

A brightly-colored parrot pinata twists on its string, hanging from one of the low light fixtures in the smoking section. The pi–ata is easy to overlook because it's a tradition that has long been assimilated into the American culture.

"The first time I came here, I heard the music: Banda Mix," says Emma Kreyche, a senior at Roosevelt. "It was the same as I listened to in Mexico."

Kreyche lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, last summer when she volunteered for the Amigos program. She will go to a Latin American country with Amigos again this summer.

"When I come to El Campesino, the music, the Spanish and food bring back a lot of memories of my summer in Mexico," she says.

The food in Mexico is different than the food at El Campesino, Kreyche says. The tortillas are made with corn, and here they are white flour tortillas.

"There we mostly ate rice and beans," she says. "This restaurant does cater to the American taste."

The carry-out menus are strategically placed near the cash register for taking on the way out.

On the front of the menu, it says in green letters: "Bienvenidos Amigos to El Campesino, Restaurante Mexicano." (Welcome friends to The Countryman, Mexican restaurant).

El Campesino's price range for meals is between $3.75 to about $8.25. The restaurant is opened Monday thru Thursday, 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. until 10:30 p.m., Saturday from 12 p.m. until 10 p.m., and Sunday 12 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

The Stow restaurant is on Kent Road across from the Stow-Kent plaza.