Friday is the last day in business for this 4-year-old Rock Road restaurant
Molino’s owner Mario Quiroz has decided to close one of his two Wichita restaurants — his Molino’s Taqueria that opened almost four years ago at 2035 N. Rock Road.
The restaurant’s last day in business, he said, will be today: Friday, Sept. 9. Those who want to make one last order have until 9 p.m.
Quiroz, who also owns Molino’s Mexican Cuisine at 1064 N. Waco, said the taqueria has been struggling to keep up since the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the restaurant was doing well before COVID hit, Quiroz is now having issues with hiring employees and with food prices.
“It’s just becoming a nightmare,” he said. “I’ve just decided to stay focused on Molino’s in Midtown.”
Quiroz said he loved the Molino’s Taqueria concept, where people built their own piratas and burritos, but that if he had it to do again, he’d add a full bar to the business.
He’s planning to incorporate some of items that were exclusive to the taqueria into his successful restaurant on Waco, he said, including breaded shrimp and tortillas made fresh by a tortilla machine he purchased.
He hopes customers will come to the taqueria one last time on Friday — then switch their patronage to the Molino’s in Midtown, which has been in business since 2013.
“We had good followers, just not the volume of sales that we would have liked,” he said.
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 12:10 PM.
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