A popular Belleville restaurant closes after 13 years. Another will soon take its place
A longtime Belleville restaurant officially closed its doors.
El Gordito, located at 2630 Mascoutah Ave., made an announcement via Facebook this week that due to unforeseen circumstances, the restaurant is closing its doors.
Posts from Dec. 19 and 20 stated that the restaurant was temporarily closed due to a gas leak with hopes of reopening after Christmas.
On Dec. 26, another post stated El Gordito was closed for kitchen maintenance until after the new year while owners worked with Ameren and the Belleville Fire Department.
The next post came on Monday, Jan. 8, announcing the restaurant’s permanent closure.
A message sent to the owner was not immediately returned.
Originally known as Dos Gorditos, the restaurant opened in spring 2010 under the ownership of Shirly and Mike Pilla and Patricia and Samuel Gonzalez.
The restaurant was later renamed El Gordito and remained under the ownership of Patricia Gonzalez.
In addition, a banner displayed at the shuttered eatery states that Los Amigos Mexican-American Restaurant & Grill is “coming soon.”
Los Amigos opened a location in O’Fallon last spring at 950 Talon Drive, the former location of Horseshoe Restaurant & Lounge.
Other locations are in Vandalia, Carlyle, Greenville and Effingham in Illinois, and one in Kokomo, Indiana.
I spoke briefly to Salvador Vazquez, the general manager at the O’Fallon restaurant, to see if he’s involved in the new location.
He isn’t, but his partners are. I asked Vazquez to pass along my phone number, so I hope to have more info about the new Belleville location soon.
BND 060610_Dos Gorditos Will Expand Your Appetite for Mexican by Jennifer Green on Scribd
