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The owners of downtown Sacramento's popular Texas Mexican Restaurant say they're "sort of hoping for a miracle."
Without one, they're closing at the end of May.
"We don't have a choice. We're not making it," says Michael Keolanui, who runs the K Street eatery with his wife, Griselda Barajas, a member of the Sacramento Metro Chamber's board.
The 1114 8th St. eatery - a noontime hangout for political figures as well as regular downtown folk - was evicted in 2006 to make way for redevelopment of K Street's 700 and 800 blocks.
When that project stalled, Keolanui and Barajas reopened in late 2007 with expanded space, a new look - and optimism that the long-promised redevelopment would bring the restaurant daytime and evening crowds.
The crowds do arrive at lunch, Keolanui says. But after the noon-hour rush? "There's nobody here," he says of the surrounding area that remains an economic dead zone.
As for a miracle, Barajas is meeting with Mayor Kevin Johnson in hopes of getting lower rent on what is now a city-owned site.
Keolanui and Barajas are also seeking investors to help them secure a new space in a better-traveled part of downtown. Perhaps at the former Three Monkeys restaurant site on Seventh Street. Maybe on Capitol Mall.
But if those efforts fail, Keolanui says he'll be forced to shut the business.
"This is a little jewel with good food at good prices," he says of Tex Mex, whose menu is still based on recipes from Griselda's mom.
As for legacies, he notes: "I really don't want to be the guy who closed it."
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Without one, they're closing at the end of May.
"We don't have a choice. We're not making it," says Michael Keolanui, who runs the K Street eatery with his wife, Griselda Barajas, a member of the Sacramento Metro Chamber's board.
The 1114 8th St. eatery - a noontime hangout for political figures as well as regular downtown folk - was evicted in 2006 to make way for redevelopment of K Street's 700 and 800 blocks.
When that project stalled, Keolanui and Barajas reopened in late 2007 with expanded space, a new look - and optimism that the long-promised redevelopment would bring the restaurant daytime and evening crowds.
The crowds do arrive at lunch, Keolanui says. But after the noon-hour rush? "There's nobody here," he says of the surrounding area that remains an economic dead zone.
As for a miracle, Barajas is meeting with Mayor Kevin Johnson in hopes of getting lower rent on what is now a city-owned site.
Keolanui and Barajas are also seeking investors to help them secure a new space in a better-traveled part of downtown. Perhaps at the former Three Monkeys restaurant site on Seventh Street. Maybe on Capitol Mall.
But if those efforts fail, Keolanui says he'll be forced to shut the business.
"This is a little jewel with good food at good prices," he says of Tex Mex, whose menu is still based on recipes from Griselda's mom.
As for legacies, he notes: "I really don't want to be the guy who closed it."
More...