Kiger's Notebook

Mexican eatery switch-up

There's an interesting morsel from Kimberly Van Brunt's Quick Bites column in today's paper.

 El Gallo was a Mexican eatery tucked away in the back corner of Rochester's Barlow Plaza by the Fish & Pets store.

El Gallo opened in that space when Baja de Sol closed in 2006 or so. I believe El Gallo has been under a couple owners.

Here's what Kimberly has on that spot:

Round and round she goes…
Been meaning to check out El Gallo, the hidden gem I wrote about a few weeks back? You’re already too late; it closed recently. It will soon reopen as La Mojarra, a Mexican seafood restaurant under new owner Oscar Reyes. I’ll have more about this one soon.

Hormel's new deal south of the border

Here's a deal that Austin-based Hormel Foods kicked out a release about Monday evening. Unfortunately, a bad bug of some kind knocked me out of commission Tuesday, so this is the first time I have been conscious enough to post this.

Anyway, Hormel has struck a deal with Herdez Del Fuerte, a Mexico City-based food company, to form a joint venture to market food to U.S. customers. The resulting company is called MegaMex Foods, LLC and it is based in Chino, Calif.

I've posted on this deal before. The reason Hormel is touting this now is that the deal, which was first announced publically in June, has now officially closed.

Here's some from the release on this deal:

Hormel Foods and Herdez Del Fuerte announced the closing of a 50/50 joint venture agreement to create MegaMex Foods, LLC, which will market Mexican foods in the United States.

The venture significantly expands the existing agreement between the two
companies and produces a portfolio with initial revenue of about $200 million.
MegaMex Foods has a comprehensive portfolio that includes brands such as
CHI-CHI`S, HERDEZ, LA VICTORIA, EMBASA and DOÑA MARÍA, among others, which
resonate with Mexican-American and mainstream consumers of Mexican foods.
--------

MegaMex Foods is a free-standing entity with an independent management team
based in Chino, Calif. MegaMex Foods will optimize efficiencies by leveraging
core competencies of the parent companies, such as manufacturing, research and
development and the supply chain.

Exotic World of Fish = belly up?

It looks like Salt Water Fish might have hooked some business news in Rochester's Barlow Plaza in the northwest quadrant.

The store looks pretty closed. The question is if the store might be moving to a new location. 

I'll be doing some checking and hopefully net a definitive answer soon.

And it looks like change is underway for the nearby El Gallo Taqueria Mexican. The door was locked and this banner flapped over the business. 

This is give a chance to use my Mexican Restaurant Closing category once again.

I should have more on both of these businesses soon.

Ringing the (Taco) Bell

I stopped to check out the demolition of the Taco Bell on Rochester's North Broadway this a.m.

I think the season change has now eliminated all chances that I can get a photo on the way into work. It just isn't light enough anymore.

Anyway, the machine is slowly chewing up the home of the chalupa. Tiles are gone off the roof and the drive-through menu board is gone.

The demo is underway. If they hope to get construction on the new and improved Bell enclosed before the snow flies, they might want to start chewing faster.

Taco John's on U.S. 52 closing today, moving

Another Mexican fast food place - like Taco Bell on Broadway and Rico Mex - is closing its doors in Rochester today.

In fact, I've now created a new category n the blog - Mexican fast food restaurants closing.

And the latest is Taco John's/ Great Steak Escape spot on 4125 U.S. 52 North by the corpse of the long-dead Burger King and across from Dairy Queen.

However, the closing is not permanent.

The plan, according to Taco John's Area Director Vincent Barry, is to move to a new location.

"It is a positive move for us," he said this a.m.

The where is not yet locked down, but Barry says three or four spots are in the running and it looks like it will probably be in the south part of the Med City.

Look for the re-opening in early 2009.

And if you have a hankering for Potato Olés, the Seventh St./ 11th Avenue N.W. corner Taco John's/Steak Escape will still be cooking them up.

but if you want to get them at the U.S. 52 frontage spot, you better get over there for lunch today. Sometime after that the doors will close and not open again.