Wichita Mexican restaurant known for its famous ‘pirata’ is celebrating 10 years in business

Back in 2008, a little restaurant called Frida’s Mexican Grill opened in a 60-seat space on 21st Street, right next to the Thai Binh Supermarket.

Back then, not many Wichitans knew what a pirata was, but they were about to find out. The dish straight out of Monterrey, Mexico — a giant flour taco stuffed with meat, lettuce, pico de gallo and melty cheese then folded and grilled until crisp — became the thing that Wichita foodies craved.

But bridge construction near the restaurant in 2009 made Frida’s almost impossible to reach, and owner Mario Quiroz closed the restaurant in 2010. He took a job at a food service distributor and would occasionally tease a Frida’s comeback. But nothing happened.

Then, in 2013, one of Quiroz’s restaurant clients opened and then quickly closed a restaurant at 1064 N. Waco — right next to longtime local favorite Juarez Bakery — and Qurioz saw his chance for a comeback. He and his wife, Mara Garza, announced they would open a new Mexican restaurant with a new name — Molino’s Mexican Cuisine — and that they would serve lots of authentic dishes many other Mexican restaurants in the area didn’t offer at the time — including a Yucatan-style slow-roasted pork called cochinita pibil.

And yes, they promised, the piratas would be back.

Now, a decade has passed, and Quiroz and Garza are celebrating 10 years in business by looking back — and by launching several new menu items, including a list of signature tacos representing several different regions of Mexico. All the new dishes were dreamed up by Garza, who has in the last year taken over the day-to-day management of the restaurant and its kitchen.

It’s been an eventful 10 years for Molino’s owners, filled with expansion, retraction, COVID survival and changing roles for Garza and for Quiroz, parents of two sons who were boys when Molino’s opened and now are both out of high school.

Though much has changed at Molino’s over the past decade, much has stayed the same, too. The pirata is still the main draw, and the clientele — made up mostly people on lunch breaks from downtown businesses and residents of nearby Riverside — has stayed strong and loyal.

Looking back, the couple says, they can see the impact Molino’s has had on the local dining scene since it opened. Their attention to detail, focus on presentation and ability to serve unique dishes that are a step above standard Wichita Tex Mex offerings has pushed other local restaurants to do more, Quiroz said.

“The big restaurants, when we started, they started watching what we were doing, and I think they improved,” Quiroz said. “And I think in the end, that was good for the whole community.”

From burgers to business school

Quiroz grew up in Guadalupe Victoria, a city in the state of Durango in northwestern Mexico. His grandfather was an entrepreneur, and when a teenage Quiroz suggested that he might be interested in running a charcoal burger stand that was for sale, his grandfather was thrilled, he said.

His grandfather bought the stand, and Quiroz — 14 at the time — started running it with two of his cousins. Eventually, the boys got busy with school and activities, but the stand was successful, so their parents ran it. Quiroz’s grandfather eventually bought a building and moved the hamburger business indoors, and today — 36 years later — it still operates.

Quiroz grew up with a mind for business, and in 2001, he decided to finish his accounting degree in Monterrey, Mexico. After he graduated, he worked in Mexico for five years before moving to the United States, determined to continue his education. He looked at colleges in the two cities where he had relatives living: San Jose and Wichita. The stark difference in cost of living made the choice easy, Quiroz said, and he enrolled at Wichita State University.

Two years later — in 2003 — Quiroz married Garza, whom he’d met back home, and she joined him in Wichita. He worked for a couple of food businesses before he started waiting tables at La Mesa, a Mexican restaurant that operated at 6960 W. 21st St. from 2001 until 2009. He eventually worked his way up to manager and then became a co-owner.

But in 2008, Quiroz decided to follow his entrepreneurial instincts and opened a new restaurant: Frida’s, which operated in a big space at 1580 W. 21st St. as part restaurant, part event center. The restaurant was an almost instant hit. Once people tried the Monterrey-inspired pirata and Frida’s fresh self-service salsa bar — word spread fast.

Just two years later, though, Frida’s was gone, and Quiroz said he felt like a failure.

“The one that was the hardest and hurt the most was Frida’s,” Quiroz said. “We suffered the loss of that business, not just financially, but it was more emotional.”

Quiroz went to work for US Foods, but his dream of reopening a version of Frida’s never left him. And his fans never left him alone, frequently asking him when they’d be able to get piratas again.

Three years after Frida’s closed, Quiroz said, his credit was clear, and he stumbled into what he considered an ideal location.

“And I said, ‘I’m ready,” he remembers.

Return of the pirata

When Quiroz announced that he and Garza were back, their longtime fans rejoiced. They were even happier when Molino’s opened its doors in the spring of 2013. Not only was the pirata back, but Quiroz and Garza had built a menu of unique, upscale Mexican dishes that weren’t as widely available in Wichita at the time: things like queso fundido served flaming tableside, elote and chilaquiles. Molino’s also became known as a go-to spot for street tacos.

The response was so favorable that the couple felt driven to expand the concept. In July of 2015, they opened an east-side Molino’s at 37th and Rock Road. But despite an extensive building remodel, the business Quiroz was sure he’d find in the area never really materialized. He closed that restaurant in 2017.

The following year, he tried again, opening Molino’s Taqueria at 2035 N. Rock Road. The restaurant, a build-your-own burrito place that featured flour tortillas made on site and Frida’s famous salsa bar, started strong, but after COVID-19 hit, the business never really recovered. He closed it in September of last year, citing the inability to find employees and rising food costs.

It was a blow, Quiroz remembers, but it was also a reminder that his flagship restaurant on Waco was his bread and butter. Though business there has never fully recovered from COVID-19, Quiroz said, the home base restaurant supports itself.

Today, Quiroz is philosophical about his two false starts.

“Through the years, something I’ve learned is not to have bad feelings or to get depressed about what happens,” he said. “You need to move on. You need to learn. That’s the most important part.”

The new boss

A year ago, Quiroz decided that he needed to find an income source outside of the restaurant business. He became a contractor for FedEx and now runs seven to eight routes in Newton, Valley Center, Sedgwick, Halstead and the surrounding areas.

The job is full time, so Quiroz has stepped away from Molino’s, leaving it in Garza’s hands. He still helps her with big catering jobs, but she now has taken over the responsibility of running the restaurant day to day — handling payroll, ordering inventory, scheduling employees, paying bills and more.

When the couple decided to create the new “anniversary” menu, the project was completely Garza’s. She relied on her skill in the kitchen, which has grown and developed ever since she was a small child living with parents who were talented home cooks.

She came up with all the recipes for the special menu, which includes six taco options built to reflect various regions of Mexico. The “La Piedad” tacos, which are an ode to the state of Michoacan, feature crispy pork belly, tomatillo salsa and guacamole. The “Nortenos” tacos, representing the state of Chihuahua, are filled with grilled chicken, melted chihuahua cheese and roasted poblano peppers.

Garza also introduced to the menu molcajetes — a mixture of meats and veggies served in a stone pot — as well as a shrimp pasta she’s always served at home to rave reviews. Soon, she also plans to start offering piratas on corn tortillas (they normally come on flour) and she’s planning to make her own giant corn tortillas.

Working separately for the first time in 20 years has been good for the couple, they say, and has allowed each to grow.

Quiroz and Garza say they don’t know what the next 10 years will hold for Molino’s, though Quiroz said he hasn’t totally ruled out trying to expand again. His gut tells him that the taqueria could have worked if it’d been in a better location and if the pandemic had not gutted the business.

But for now, they’re content with what they have.

“This has been our home for 10 years, and after testing or trying in other places, we still see that this is our main location,” he said. “This is the business that has been supporting our family for all these years.”

Molino’s Anniversary menu