What Ever Happened To Don Pablo’s? A Lubbock Original

Growing up our family would typically go out to each on Friday and Saturday nights unless a school event got in the way. My parents, even to this day, seemed to have a rotation of restaurants that they really enjoyed that we would go to. For, at least a couple of years, an old Mexican food restaurant called Don Pablo's was one of those restaurants.

In the 90's things seemed to be going well and when a Don Pablo's opened in my hometown of Grand Prairie, it was the talk of the town. But nothing lasts forever and then chain that seemed to be doing so well, just sorta went away eventually. So what happened?

What Happened To Don Pablo's Tex-Mex Restaurants?

Don Pablo's was founded in Lubbock, Texas in 1985. That is something I didn't know about until I moved to Lubbock in 2001. Started by DF&R Restaurants Inc., the chain grew quickly and became a national hit. At one time, according to the Wall Street Journal, Don Pablo's had grown to 120 locations making it the second-largest, full-service Mexican food restaurant chain in the United States behind Chi-Chi's.

In 1995, Georgia based company Apple South purchased Don Pablo's and continued growing the company that at the time had 51 locations. These were still the good ol' days for Don Pablo's. At the time Apple South owned about 264 Applebee's locations. They later sold those to focus on Don Pablo's and changed their name to Avado.

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According to BrokenChains, things didn't work out as planned. Avado filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and again in 2007. During this time several locations of Don Pablo's began closing. In 2008 the chain was sold to Rita Restaurant Corporation but it failed to expand the brand and filed bankruptcy in 2016.

In April of 2018, Don Pablo's in Grand Prairie, Texas closed its doors leaving the number of Don Pablo's at just 7 by May of 2018. By June of 2019, the final Don Pablo's location in Deptford Township, New Jersey closed.

Don Pablo's had a good run that's for sure and like many other restaurants that have gone out of business, once the ride is over, it doesn't take long for it to be completely over.