July 14, 2006

Evergreen’s Mexicali Grill closes its doors

Restaurant closed for good on July 1

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Mexicali Grill owner Jag Kapoor decided that the longtime Silver Creek Shopping Center dining destination would close for good July 1.

Kapoor, who operated the site even before floods required an overhaul and remodel ultimately resulting in a name change—the store became Mexicali from Pedro’s—decided that a slowing lunchtime business was too much to overcome if he hoped to recoup costs incurred in fixing the approximate 7,500 square-foot restaurant space.

“We had Pedro’s there first, but then four years ago the place was flooded,” said Kapoor, who built a veritable empire with his brother, Sean Kapoor. The two currently operate 42 area grocery sites, as well as Pedro’s in Los Gatos, and the Una Mas Mexican food chain after beginning with a single Quick Mart that Jag acquired in 1979.

The Mexicali location on Mission Boulevard in Santa Clara will remain open.

“Since we had to shut it down to clean it, we thought that maybe if we change the concept, it might change the business,” said Kapoor of the Evergreen Mexicali Grill location. “We completely gutted the place and built a new
restaurant there.”

Yet, Kapoor said the site struggled continuously over the past two years.

“The area does not have enough lunch business to support that large a restaurant,” he said. “In the Evergreen area, the majority of restaurants are still doing without lunch business. That’s great if you are busy over Saturday and Sunday, but you can’t run a restaurant without lunch business.”

While the decision to close Mexicali Grill tugged at Evergreen resident Kapoor’s heart—he lives up the street—the move was made for the best, according to him. He and brother Sean are still enjoying success in core projects such as the Bonfaire Markets, based out of Hayward, and the Una Mas Mexican Grill Chain.

“My main business is grocery stores,” said Kapoor, citing Bonfaire and the Stop N’ Save chain, which he founded in 1981 on the corner of Jackson and McKee, the first move made after beginning with the Quick Mart franchise. “But I like to meet people. Opportunities came up to buy restaurants and I ended up buying these. It’s a very interesting field. After I am done working 10 hours in the grocery store, I like to go into the bar at [Mexicali] and talk to the guests, take care of people.”

Kapoor grew the Stop N’ Save chain to 20 locations, before acquiring a cluster of Bonfaire Market locations in 1994, and growing that chain to 30 stores. When Pedro’s declared bankruptcy under the watch of former owner Mike Martinez in 1992, Kapoor bought the current Mexicali Grill site.

“When you have a facility of that size, you have to fill up the seats,” said Kapoor. “It would have been great if the location was half of the size. We looked at the economics of cutting the size down, but it did not make sense to [do so].”