Popular Fort Worth-area Tex-Mex, Southern restaurants sold to California’s El Torito

The Rio Mambo Tex Mex y Más restaurants, which opened on the morning of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on America but endured to become a regional success, have been sold to the California-based owner of Chevys Fresh Mex and El Torito, founder Brent Johnson said Monday.

Xperience Restaurant Group, based in Cypress, California, also bought The Rim grill-and-bar restaurants in Fort Worth and Burleson, Johnson said.

Xperience operates Mexican restaurants under nine brands, mostly in California. Buying Rio Mambo and The Rim would mark the company’s expansion into Texas.

Johnson does not expect changes to the restaurants or staff, he said.

Rio Mambo’s current locations are in Fort Worth, Colleyville, Burleson and Weatherford.

“They have talked to us a couple of times because they like what we do,” he said. “They buy small to midsize companies with a brand. I think they definitely plan to expand.”

The first El Torito was founded in 1954 in Encino, California. Another Xperience company, Acapulco Restaurant, was founded in 1960 in Pasadena. Chevys is more recent, opening in 1986 in Alameda.

The company also operates restaurants under the names Sol, Las Brisas, Solita Tacos, Sinigual and Who Song & Larry’s.

Rio Mambo is known for opening its first Cityview Centre location with a VIP party on a fateful day: the morning when terrorists took over passenger aircraft and crashed them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

“It was surreal — we had jets from the air base flying overhead, windows rattling, and we didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “But the whole staff got there and we went ahead and opened.”

With people staying home to watch television, Rio Mambo served 179 people on day when he expected 800, he said.

Johnson named the cantina at that location “Bar9Eleven.”

Two years ago, Johnson opened The Rim, a retro Southern grill and bar in Burleson and in the Waterside shops in Fort Worth.

Johnson had been in management with the Mi Cocina restaurants before opening Rio Mambo.