Headed to Winooski to take the El Diablo Challenge? Better make other plans. It’s been dark inside Don Pedro’s Taqueria since Saturday.
A sign apparently dashed off in pencil warns potential guests, “Closed until further notice!”
But other signs indicate there will be no further notice. The restaurant’s phone line has been disconnected, and owner Pierre Mesa has not answered phone calls or emails.
The restaurant survived just less than a year after its August 11, 2011 opening. At the time, Mesa reported that he served about 550 people a night in the quick-service Mexican eatery’s first week.
In recent months, business appeared to have slowed drastically from the original mania, despite attempts at new gimmicks such as a weekly salsa dance night.
R.I.P. to the Don.
This article appears in The Adirondack Issue 2012.
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There are much worse places to eat on that circle. Shame. Now all we’re left with is the hipster taco bar and overpriced plates of rice and beans with a side of screaming tourist child.
had such high hopes for The Don’s success; makes me miss Tortilla Flats all the more…
Yet another reason 7days should wait a while until to do a restaurant review on a new place. Here was a place 7days panned right out of the gate. Now they are closed. How about waiting a little bit next time? Like with the new bluebird bbq for example, give them a few months before praising or panning them please.
honestly, vt already has too many mexican places. let’s get a korean restaurant in all these places closing down lately.
As usual, an absolutely horrible idea, epicfail. You should take your own advice and give these blogs “a few months before praising or panning them please.” Maybe you’d find some better things to do and save us all from your vitriol. A food critic’s job is to inform the public. There are no rules on when and how often a restaurant should be reviewed. A review of a new restaurant can be extremely helpful when trying to decide whether or not to give it a try, but it is just one piece of information. The review did not say for the public to never go there and that the reviewer would never come back. It just said that some things were not to her liking.
No matter what you think Josh, the Don is out of business. End of story.
+1 to you, sir.
You think it was the bad review that killed DP? How about the fact that the food sucked?
I went there a handful of times despite the bad review. I kept hoping the food would get better as they got settled. It was OK food, but it was missing something. Just a tad bland.