Ezequiel Camacho, the man behind the family-owned Charro Mexican Restaurant brand with locations throughout the Midwest, doesn’t shy away from a little competition.
That’s clear from the location Camacho chose to enter the Springfield market. The 2500 Sunrise Drive address is the former location of Springfield Char House and is his second Mexican restaurant to open in the Whitney Business Park this year.
And two more established candidates south of the border are nearby. Blue Margarita is visible from Charro’s parking lot and La Fiesta is less than a 5 minute drive away.
“My vision is for Mexican food to be different than other Mexican restaurants,” said Camacho, who co-owns the Charro brand with his wife, Juan Camacho. “Customers[at other locations]appreciate the difference.
“My mother was a great cook. She was an inspiration to me. Half of the recipes are family recipes. Most of what we serve is homemade.”
Salsa is a family recipe. Tortilla chips are freshly fried daily. The chorizo is made in-house. All carefully selected meats are cut in-house and seasoned with special marinades.
The Springfield store will open on May 20th.
Can’t wait that long?
In addition to its original location in Chesterfield, Missouri, which opened in 2009, Charro Mexican Restaurant also has locations in Taylorville and Decatur.
The 7,000-square-foot Sunrise Drive address has been vacant since Springfield Char House closed in 2020. The building originally housed Carlos O’Kelly’s Mexican Cafe when it was first constructed in 2004. Comacho said he has submitted plans to add a restaurant to the city. There will also be an outdoor patio, but that feature won’t be completed in time for the grand opening. Business hours are Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Phone: 217-970-4053. You can eat in and take out.
Rancho Chico opened in January at 3028 Stanford Ave. in the Whitney Business Park, filling a vacancy in Cancun.
Chicken wing business aims for second Springfield location
Wingstop will be throwing its signature flavors into sauces in Springfield’s north end next year.
Officials with the Garland, Texas-based chain confirmed plans for a second store at 2724 N. Dirksen Parkway. It is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2025.
Wingstops claims it has the last vacant seat in a strip mall in front of Walmart that already houses a Starbucks, Great Clips and T-Mobile.
The announcement comes in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the brand’s re-entry into the Springfield market at 1665 Wabash Street. The brand disappeared from the nation’s capital just under two years after its Wabash address was shut down by fire in 2021.
The father and son team of Salil and Sahil Contractor are local franchise operators.
The Wingstop concept took flight in 1994 in Garland, Texas, offering a variety of wings from plain to lemon pepper, spicy Korean to Louisiana rub, and Cajun to atomic. Currently, this chain operates more than 2,000 stores around the world.
Sonic returns to Taylor Building
The Sonic Drive-in will return to Taylorville with regular business hours starting Monday after 20 years from the Christian County Courthouse.
However, if the timing is right, the new Sonic may be able to implement the dietary fix in the dashboard sooner, with unposted hours starting May 8th to provide hands-on training to new staff.
Las Vegas-based Guernsey Sonic LLC is behind the brand’s revival at 929 W. Springfield Road, next to Taylorville High School. This marks Guernsey Holdings’ entry into central Illinois along with all other Sonic locations south of Mount Vernon.
The renovated building includes two drive-through lanes, seven drive-in stalls, and eight stalls dedicated to picking up orders via the Sonic app.
Starting Monday, Sonic will serve customers from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 8 a.m. to midnight Sunday.
Parent company Guernsey Holdings LLC operates the Sonics across Illinois, Idaho, Texas, Louisiana and Washington.
The Taylor Building site has not housed a restaurant since 2002, when the state shut down Sonic because the previous franchisee failed to pay taxes.
Our a la carte column covers restaurant openings, closings, renovations, and relocations, as well as personnel changes and business news. Natalie Morris can be reached at 217-737-7254 or email natalie.sjr@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared in the Rockford Register Star: Charro Mexican Restaurant opens in Springfield.Wingstop 2nd location
