Updated: Mexican and Salvadoran restaurant to replace Royal Tandoor in Frederick

Aug. 1—A Mexican and Salvadoran restaurant will replace the short-lived Royal Tandoor Indian Cuisine and Buddha Lounge on North Market Street this fall.

River Bar and Grill will open at 129 N. Market St. in September, said owner Jaime Hernandez, who also owns Habanero Tacos Bar and Grill and J&V El Eden Restaurant in Frederick.

River Bar and Grill will sell pupusas, tacos, fajitas, soups and other Mexican and Salvadoran dishes, Hernandez said. It will be a family restaurant focusing mainly on food, instead of on liquor, he added.

"You can go in with your grandma, with your little one, and it's not going to be noisy," he said.

The Royal Tandoor shuttered less than six months after opening earlier this year.

State business records list Vicrum Chibb as the Royal Tandoor's owner. But, as of May 23, the restaurant's website said Neel Kamal ran it. Kamal was the owner of Taco Daddy Cantina and Tequila Bar next door, which closed in May after workers walked out on the job.

In a text message on May 23, Kamal told a Frederick News-Post reporter he would ask the website designer to remove his name.

Taco Daddy employees told the News-Post they frequently had paychecks bounce when they tried to cash them and often weren't paid overtime or compensated for all of the hours they worked.

Kamal disputed their accounts of the way the restaurant was run. He acknowledged there were sometimes problems with bounced checks, but said he always resolved paycheck problems "immediately."

A new tequila bar and restaurant, Agave 137 Tequila Bar and Kitchen, will replace Taco Daddy at 137 N. Market St. The restaurant will be owned by Richard Belles, who also owns the Cellar Door Restaurant in downtown Frederick.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Agave 137 Tequila Bar and Kitchen on Saturday.

As of Monday, state property records listed Vas Mark II LLC as the owner of 129 N. Market St., the former Royal Tandoor location. Chibb is listed as the company's resident agent.

When contacted by phone last month, Chibb told the News-Post he "sold the place" and a new owner would be coming to the address.

He declined to comment on when he sold the property and hung up.

After a property is sold, it could take a month or more for the new owner to be listed in the state's public property record database, David Etter — supervisor of assessment at the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation's Frederick office — told the News-Post in July.

Hernandez said he didn't purchase 129 N. Market St. He said he rents it. He declined to say who he rents it from.

The downtown Frederick address previously housed Coco Cabana Island Grill and Rum Bar, Bella Trattoria and Reina Restaurant and Bar.

Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier