Pablo's Mexican Restaurant Faces Closure
CRYSTAL LAKE, IL -- Five years ago, a waitress at a popular Mexican restaurant in Crystal Lake decided to take a chance. Jennifer Falbo, who her husband describes as a "real angel with a heart as big as the sky," came to him and asked if he would help her buy Pablo's Mexican Restaurant. The restaurant, a local staple located at a strip mall along Northwest Highway, was facing closure as the former owner faced a bad economy and rising food and rent costs.
"At first I thought she was just kidding. After all, who buys 30 year old equipment and 10 years worth of dept and forgotten or discarded/unopened bills?" Freddie Falbo wrote in a GoFundMe, which he set up to help raise funds for the still-struggling restaurant. "The reputation of the restaurant was all that had value."
Freddie Falbo did end up stepping up to help and Jennifer took over as Pablo's owner, keeping 37 people in jobs and the popular Mexican spot open.
"At first when the community found out that a server became the owner, the place was filled with people and things were good," Falbo wrote on the GoFundMe site.
Now, the restaurant at 230 W. Virginia Street, in the same strip mall that houses Savers, is facing closure again. The skyrocketing cost of avocados, giving away $3,000 worth of chips and salsa and the normal wear and tear from faulty restaurant equipment that is a fortune to replace are among the reasons Pablo's Mexican Restaurant, which opened in Crystal Lake in 1986, continues to struggle.
"It felt like the entire place had gremlins in the middle of the night come in and toss the place," Freddie Falbo wrote on the GoFundMe site. "Food costs were still rising. One time avocados went from 30 dollars a case to 100 overnight. How can you sell guacamole for ten times less than you pay for it?"
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As the business struggled, Freddie said he and his wife seriously considered closing at one point last year. But even their lowest, when they were having trouble buying food for the week, paying payroll and taxes and their utility bills, Jennifer thought first of others in the community, Freddie wrote.
She asked Freddie if he could help her open Pablos on Christmas Day so they could help feed the homeless.
"This is my wife. I cried so hard," Freddie said. "My wife is about to lose it all and she wants to help those less fortunate than her with the only resource she has left. The lights and the gas were still on. She asked the community to help, and the outpour(ing) of help was unbelievable."
He added that Christmas Day was amazing.
"We touched some lives in the community," he wrote.
The GoFundMe is looking to raise $200,000 to cover overdue and unpaid bills, purchase much-needed equipment, buy food and get Pablo's back on its feet again.
"It will be nice to see the woman who gives her all, get something back from her community," Freddie wrote.
As of Monday night, the GoFundMe had raised around $860.
Photo via GoogleMaps
