The wait is over.
For many months, Rochester commuters have watched as a new tortilla maker and Mexican eatery has taken shape at the corner of Elton Hills Drive Northwest and Third Avenue.
"We've had two or three people come by every day and ask, 'When are you going to open?,'" says Susan Garciaof Tortilleria Jalisco, 303 Elton Hills Drive N.W.
Well, today's the day. The restaurant was to open this morning for breakfast, dine in or take out.
"Everything will be made fresh," says Garcia, the daughter of owner Mercedes Rodriguez. Flour tortillas will be made by hand every morning, and stacks of corn tortillas will roll out of an automatic tortilla maker four times a week.
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Beside selling stacks of tortillas, they'll also serve a small menu of Mexican food, starting with breakfast burritos at 8 a.m. every day. "Every day of the week will have new options on the menu," she says. "We'll have a few things and they'll change daily."
Garcia says the plan is to post the daily menu on Tortilleria Jalisco's Facebook page.
Rodriguez, Garcia and their family have been working on renovations to the former Zadeo's Pizzabuilding for months. Installation of an elaborate tortilla-making machine was one reason for the lengthy ramp-up to the opening, Garcia says.
While it was a long time coming, opening the restaurant and tortilla shop has been Rodriguez's dream.
"Being from Texas, we are accustomed to seeing small shops where you drive through and get your pack of two or three dozen tortillas. Then you go home and eat with warm tortillas. We wanted to bring a little taste of that up here in Minnesota," she said, when she described the business back in April.
Blair Meekand Randy Scottof Professional Management Groupin Rochester handled the real estate deal that put Tortilleria Jalisco into the Elton Hills building.
