Patricia Quiroz estimates she has 70 unread Facebook messages from patrons all wondering the same thing —when is Fiesta Tapatia going to open in its new location?
"That's the No. 1question," co-owner Quiroz said. "And, unfortunately, we still don't have an answer for that."
Six months ago, owners of the local Mexican restaurant say, they were forced to close their businessat its longtime Mishawaka locationearlier than expected because of a water leak. At that time, plans to move three miles north into the former Charming Charlie space in Granger's Heritage Square were already in motionafter their former landlord informed the restaurant owners of plans to sell the property to make way for a new gas station. The building at119 W. McKinley Ave. has since been demolished and construction for the gas station remains underway.
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Since then, operators have focused their energy on transforming the 5,800-square foot space at7321 Heritage SquareDrivethat once served as a space for a national retailer but has since been outfitted for the local restaurant.
"We started from the bottom, and the constructiondid take a good while," Quiroz said. (We constructed the)walls, flooring, kitchen, bathrooms, everything."
Though able to serve double the capacity, Quiroz said, they wanted to provide the same homey atmosphere as the former location. The new restaurant space still has the same decorative tables and chairs depicting famous Latin scenes and people, as well as large partition walls with rounded windows and decorative light fixtures. A new bar, that will allow for beer, wine and mixed drinks such asmargaritas to be served, has been added to the restaurant and a private room for large parties also has been constructed.
As the majority of construction has been completed, odd-end items that areessential to the restaurant operations have taken longer to arrive than expected. Quiroz said supply chain issues havecaused delays inreceiving basic items such assilverware, table bases, signs and awnings.
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The delay also has hindered owners'opening plans.
Initially scheduled to open in December, the restaurant's opening is now dependenton the arrival of anew hot food steam table that is used to keep ingredients likebeans, rice and shredded chicken warm. Quiroz said the equipment was ordered months ago, but they still have no sense of when it will arrive.
"That's what's holding us up. We cannot open without it, we cannot do inspections without it," Quiroz said."So we pretty much have everything (else) ready. We have some decorations that are going to arrive from Mexico next week, but other than that, you know, we're ready to be open."
Interest about the restaurant's new location opening has increased as the previously-planned December opening has come and passed. Quiroz said she's already received large party reservations for April and catering orders for graduations in the spring and summertime. They are not currently accepting reservations for the to-be-determined opening day.
Quiroz said once the equipment comes in, they'll be able to hire more staff and plan to have two weeks of training for everyone to become acclimated. Once open, the focus will be on dine-in service, with carryout orders temporarily unavailable while operations in the new space are smoothed out in the first few weeks. In light of the new omicron COVID variant, she said, they will make the necessary decisions and steps to ensure staff and customers remain healthy.
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The food menu will remain the same, with afew new platter options. Quiroz said prices have increased slightly because of higher ingredients costs from suppliers. Rent at Heritage Square location also is expensive, with Quiroz saying her father Rodolfo, who also owns the restaurant, is nervous about that aspect of business.
"I try to reassure him that we've been in business for 20 hears, people have known us for 20 years," Patricia Quiroz said. "They know our food, they know our service, they know our quality. And, in that aspect, I do hope that we stay busy enough to be able to pay rent."
But after being closed for six months and using life's savings to fund the project, the finish line is in sight for owners.
"We're so anxious and a little nervous," Quiroz said. "But we're more than ready to be open and see our wonderful customers and just go back to old life a little bit."
Contact Mary Shown at 574-235-6244 and mshown@gannett.com. Follow heron Twitter:@maryshownSBT and @marketbasketSBT.
