In this Restaurant Impossible episode, Robert Irvine visits Mexican Village in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Mexican Village is owned by Abel Meza.
Before he opened Mexican Village, Abel had zero experience running a restaurant.
He opened the restaurant because his parents asked him to.
Mexican Village is family owned and operated.
They opened in 2018.
Abel doesn’t just think of this restaurant as his.
He thinks of it as his family’s restaurant as well.
Abel’s mom and grandfather have been in the restaurant business for years.
Growing up, Abel’s mom raised him on a waitress salary.
Abel’s mom Trini was a restaurant manager for ten years before Abel bought the restaurant.
Trini is the one who really wanted the restaurant.
Abel says his mom can be a handful sometimes.
Trini thinks Abel needs to step up a little.
They were very successful when they first opened.
Soon after opening, Trini got sick.
She has a problem with her foot and she told Abel she couldn’t be on her feet anymore.
They used all the money they had to open the restaurant.
Trini says they need a miracle because all of their lives are in the restaurant.
If the restaurant fails, then the family is ruined.
Robert arrives at the restaurant.
The bar doesn’t have a back bar.
Robert calls Abel in and says that he can’t call this a restaurant.
Before buying the restaurant, Abel owned a car dealership.
He sold the car dealership for $150,000.
He leased the building and put all the money from the dealership into it.
When Robert asks why Abel would put money into something he didn’t own, Abel says because his family asked him to.
For the $150,000 Abel got the lease and everything in the kitchen.
Abel says they are losing around $15,000 a month at least.
Abel’s grandfather is the cook and his recipes are on the menu.
They don’t have a copy of the recipes.
Abel has five kids and all are boys.
They live with their mother and Abel doesn’t see them much.
His kids are used to not seeing him.
He was married when they opened the restaurant.
He was so focused on making the restaurant work that he forgot about his marriage and eventually they divorced.
Abel’s heart is in the right place but there is a lot of work to do.
Robert says he wants to see the service.
Abel doesn’t focus on working the front of the house.
Waitress Evie and Abel’s cousin, has been working here for a year and a half.
She says the customers like the food but they wish that the service was faster.
They microwave a lot of the food, yet it still takes forever for food to get to the customers.
Robert orders some dishes from the menu to try.
The vegetables in the fajita are raw.
The shrimp is lacking in flavor, passion, and imagination.
The steak is salty but the refried beans are good.
The rice is overcooked and the ground beef in the tacos taste like water.
Robert says that everything is lacking flavor.
He gives the food a zero out of ten.
Robert was expecting the food to have love in it, but there isn’t.
He tells Abel that the food is awful and this is what is making the restaurant fail.
Abel will never make it if they don’t make changes to the food.
Trini says it makes her sad that Robert didn’t like the food.
Robert tells her that he has to be honest in order to save the restaurant.
Robert meets with Tom and Lynn to discuss the design concept.
The staff begins taking everything out of the restaurant.
Evie tells Robert about how Abel does work hard but Trini thinks Abel doesn’t do enough.
Robert meets with Trini and Miguel.
He asks them if they know anything about the finances.
They aren’t aware of the severity of it.
Robert asks whose fault it is, and Trini says Abel’s.
Robert asks why it’s Abel’s fault.
Trini says it’s because she is only here a few days out of the week.
Robert confronts them about the fact that they don’t think he works hard enough.
Trini says that Abel doesn’t like to do more physical work.
Trini says she feels really guilty for Abel not being happy since he gave up his career to give her what she wants.
Robert says the biggest problem in the restaurant is the food.
Robert comes up with a creative way to show Abel that he must learn how to run a restaurant.
Abel restored a motorcycle, which is something that took him years to learn.
He must take that same will to learn and apply it to learning how to run the restaurant.
Robert also says that Abel must also make time for his kids.
Robert wants to meet his kids and Abel brings them to the restaurant.
The kids say they would like to spend more time with their dad.
For homework, Robert tells Abel he must write down what his vision for the restaurant in the future is.
The next morning, Abel meets with Robert.
Abel wants the restaurant to be bright.
He wants the whole vibe to change.
Abel wants peoples’ faces light up when they walk inside.
He wants to have something to leave to his kids.
Robert has Abel tell his staff his vision.
Abel says he can’t have Trini in the kitchen anymore.
Trini admits that she does push Abel around a lot.
Abel must replace Miguel as well.
Robert finds a temporary chef, who specializes in Mexican food.
They begin showing Abel Chef Carlos’ skills.
Abel says he was very impressed with Chef Carlos.
Robert teaches Abel how to properly price foods.
He also shows Abel a few recipes that will be added to the menu.
They begin putting the finishing touches on the restaurant.
Robert takes Abel into his new restaurant.
Abel never imagined that it would look like this.
He invites the customers into his new restaurant.
Abel’s kids get to see all of the changes as well.
On relaunch, the customers love the food.
They run out of Sprite but the food is coming out quickly.
Trini says she is very proud of Abel.
What Happened Next at Mexican Village?
Since Robert’s visit, sales are up 35% at Mexican Village.
Abel is paying off his debts one bill at a time.
Chef Carlos wasn’t able to continue as head chef.
Abel hired two new cooks in the kitchen so Miguel and Trini can continue to relax.
The restaurant is running smoother than ever.
Abel now spends three days a week with his children.
Sales rose as high as 75% more than before the show due to the support of the community.
Mexican Village is closed.
They closed in March 2022.
Reviews were mixed after the show and had declined before their closure.
Mexican Village is Restaurant Impossible season 19 episode 12 and aired on 12th August 2021.
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