Posted on 04/20/2024 7:19:04 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Competition in the Tex-Mex and Mexican segments of the restaurant space has been fierce in recent years, led by fast-food chains Yum Brands' Taco Bell (YUM) and Chipotle (CMG) .
Taco Bell is king with about 7,936 locations in the U.S., according to data company ScrapeHero. Chipotle has a good size of the market with 3,398 units. Other major players include Qdoba with over 750 locations and Del Taco (TACO) with over 600.
Certain Mexican casual restaurant chains have had financial difficulties trying to compete and needed to file for bankruptcy. Chevy's Fresh Mex, which had as many as 37 locations filed bankruptcy a couple of times, most recently in 2018, and currently has 18 locations. Other Mexican chains have filed bankruptcy and shuttered permanently, including Don Pablo's, which filed bankruptcy in 2017 and closed down in 2019. Another, Chi-Chis, filed bankruptcy and closed permanently in 2004.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
OK, so which companies are they talking about? I read as far as I could without loading their stupid app.
Why can’t these “journalists” just get to the point?
I liked the food at the local Don Pablo's but hated the ambiance. Most restaurants work hard to absorb sound so you don't hear every silverware clink and conversation. The local Don Pablo's (and it may have been chain wide) seemed to be designed to amplify the noise, which caused people to speak louder, which made more noise for everyone, which made people shout to be heard in a positive feedback loop. If it was more than about one quarter full it would end up being a miserable dinner unless you just wanted to eat alone with ear plugs.
Around here, multiple authentic Mexican restaurants are opening up that are running many of the chains out of business. There are also several food trucks for the taco aficionado. Only people with little money and a desire for a gut bomb ring The Bell.
How do they do that - cook good food and try to sell it. They don’t even have a VP for marketing.
Mexican food trucks rule here in SW Florida. Caesar’s Taco Truck makes a fabulous grilled burrito.
Indeed Nashville has great Tex med and authentic Mexican too even from specific regions
One positive from the invasion
That and labor
Shelbyville south of here is TN is the states most invaded town
Chicken farms and horses
Incredible Mexican food
Best Molè
We’ll never deport 20 million
Guess we’ll just eat up and hope they resist the victim cult in time
I remember it too. Has it really been gone since 2004? Man, time flies.
No Bertoberto’s?
You're not a fan of the ladyfinger burritos?
I miss Burrito Brothers in Gainesville, from my UF days.
At first glance, I thought you meant the Flying Burrito Brothers that had a Gainesville connection. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Burrito_Brothers
Alas, I looks like the restaurant closed in 2017.
https://www.wuft.org/business-news/2017-01-31/after-40-years-serving-gainesville-burrito-brothers-to-close
I miss Maria Elana’s from my Silicon Valley days.
Maria Elana didn’t survive Crohn’s.
Maria Elana’s didn’t survive COVID.
And Chi Chi’s from 20 years ago
Ah yes, Tijuana Flats (Moline, IL. Now Los Agavos), site of my second date with future wife (Oct. 77). I had only known her 8 days and this corvette-driving single guy was already hopelessly falling for her.
The TF there was a more classy sit-down-and-be-waited-on diner, people dressed snazzier. A local chain, Taco John’s, was much like Taco Bell.
That WAS Taco Bell’s main selling point… back in the day.. dirt cheap and open late…. Not any longer
If you only had a Buck or two in your pocket and were hungry you could get something at Taco Bell, especially on your way home after a night of drinking .
“It’s not Taco Bell that’s putting other Mexican chains out of business. It’s the independent restaurants run by Hispanic immigrants.”
You are 100% correct. Every small city around me, has at least 20-25 Mexican restaurants. And they are not chains either.
I miss all the dollar deals at fast food.
Won’t pay $6+ for a burger and I won’t pay $4+ for fried potato sticks.
Chichis was at least several hundred locations and a solid at least regional player at its peak…
And it wound up finally closing for good due to a hep an outbreak though thr company hand been in and out of BK and changed owners a few times if memory serves near the end.
I really don’t understand the point of this article at all, it sounds like it’s trying to argue the Mexican space is too crowded… but the examples it tries to cite for that argument really don’t support that general consensus.
I do believe that if burgers THE american food can only realistically support maybe 5-6 serious national quick service chains, that the footprint for Mexican quick service restaurants probably only has room for maybe 2-3 serious national quick service chains at most..
But in terms of casual dining, not quick service, that’s a wholly different story..
I dunno just a weird article all the way around.
That way you read it. Yeah, pretty lame bait and switch on the story there. It’s really “would be fast food chain you never heard of declaring bankruptcy”. But, nobody reads that.
Chi Chi’s was great! They had the best chips and Margaritas.
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