Main Street Restaurant to Close Saturday

After almost six years in business on Main Street, Diego Cristobal decided it was time to finally call it quits. 

Cristobal has owned and operated the El Mariachi Loco Mexican restaurant at 697 Main St. since April 7, 2007, but come Saturday, March 30, 2013 the business will close its doors for the last time. 

"Business is very slow," Cristobal told Patch when asked about the closing. "We tried to keep it up, but the economy is just bad." 

Still, Cristobal said he tried to keep the business running as long as he could, eliminating the restaurant's breakfast and lunch hours two years ago and only opening for dinner, but fewer and fewer customers made it difficult to keep the doors open. Add to that Cristobal's mission to only serve "the freshest and finest ingredients" and the pledge right on the front of the menu to never "serve anything from a can," and it is understandable how the business' overhead simply became unsustainable. 

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"Most of the people just drive by us on the way to the mall," he said. "They don't have a reason to come downtown." 

But, Friday evening, the restaurant was packed as word had spread that El Mariachi Loco would soon be closing.

Shortly aster the doors opened at 5 p.m., a large crowd of "regulars" had gathered at a table near the door, intending to share one last meal at their favorite restaurant as they reminisced about previous ones. 

"We don't know where we're going to eat after this," said Patty Kilpatrick, a Manchester resident who claims to have been dining consistently at El Mariachi Loco since it first opened its doors six years ago. "Nothing compares to Diego's food. We're very sad." 

Cristobal said he wanted to thank all of the customers that have walked through the door and supported him and his business over the past six years, but said that he's not done with the restaurant business just yet. He works a day job at a factory in Hartford, and plans to work at another restaurant in the area as well. 

And, if the timing and location are right someday, Cristobal hopes to open another restaurant of his own in the Manchester area. 

"I want to stop just now for the economy, I don't want to lose any more money," Cristobal said. "A couple of years from now, if I get another opportunity, maybe I can do it again."