San Luis Obispo High School senior Kaylee Hernandez is one of many students new to the area and SLOHS, during this ongoing year of distance learning.

Unique to the new student pool, Hernandez is from Kauai, Hawaii.

“A few things I miss most about Kauai are my friends and the gorgeous beaches that surround our beautiful little island. Something I was really into with my free time during quarantine was to go around the island (since it is only a two hour drive all the way around), hit all the beaches, and just make lots of memories with my friends,” said Hernandez.

Her family moved out here to start their third restaurant Federico’s Fresh Mex Cuisine, which opened off of Higuera and Chorro, 851 Higuera St.

Due to COVID-19, new restaurants haven’t been able to get out the word as much as they would normally like to. Federico’s is a family friendly restaurant, with traditional Mexican food and family made recipes.

They also bring a little bit of Hawaii to SLO in the way that they serve fresh Hawaiian fish every day, and fresh Hawaiian brewed coffee in the mornings.

They have a new Instagram page @Federicosfreshmexslo, for hours and menu.

“My overall impression of San Luis Obispo so far is all things positive, at the beginning I wasn’t sure how I’d like it, but I’ve grown to like it a lot in the little bit of time I’ve been here. I really enjoy how it’s not so crazy here,” said Hernandez. 

So far, away from the restaurant, Hernandez has had to meet teachers and students mostly on Zoom.

“My favorite class would have to be Anatomy and Physiology because I am planning on going into the medical field, so it’s something that really interests me,” said Hernandez.