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Tejano singer's family-owned San Antonio restaurant avoids closing

Gilbert's Mexican Restaurant
The family-owned Gilbert's Mexican Restaurant is staying open for now. Gilbert's Mexican Restaurant/Facebook

A longtime casual Mexican restaurant in San Antonio has come out the other side of an intended closing thanks to a fundraiser. Gilbert's Mexican Restaurant is staying open, according to a video posted on its Facebook page.

Owner Ashley Rodriguez Herrera announced on January 24 that the restaurant would be closing after 40 years in business. The restaurant was notable not just for its longevity, but because it was founded by legendary Tejano singer Gilbert Rodriguez.

"My family started Gilbert’s over four decades ago, and as a second-generation owner, it has been the greatest honor of my life to continue that legacy and be a part of this amazing community," wrote the younger Rodriguez in her Facebook post. "[Our team] turned Gilbert’s into something so much more than a place to eat. You made it a family. To our loyal customers, there are no words to express how much your love and support have meant to us over the years. You didn’t just walk through our doors. You brought your stories, laughter, and lives with you."

This inspired more than 200 comments by the time of this article's publication, many offering tributes to both the business and the family — namely Gilbert.

The next morning, the restaurant posted a call to action: help Gilbert's raise $15,000 to stay open by dining at the restaurant, making a donation, or spreading the word. One commenter shared that there was a 45-minute wait when they arrived, giving a scale of the number of people who showed up to eat.

When Gilbert's shared the link to the fundraiser, the team credited the neighboring catering and meal prep service Fears Kitchen for creating it. It now shows $1,115 raised alongside a message from Jared Fears: "Every day I open up, I can see how many people patronize their business and it warms my heart to see how much they mean to the community of San Antonio and the marbach rd area of 410/marbach. ... Some might be skeptical of this message and may not think it's authentic but it is backed by their family and I had permission to set this up for them."

Although $1,115 may not seem like enough against the $20,000 goal, Ashley's message says the team reached it (presumably mostly through sales). She says customers offered to work for free and asked the restaurant to stay open a bit longer so they would have a chance to make the drive — some from hours away in Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, and more.

These flip-flops are not uncommon when a business announces a closure and the community reacts in large numbers. Sometimes a business is able to use the extra push to make sustainable changes, like finding a new location; other times, they simply rely on the groundswell for as long as it can carry them. So far, it sounds like Gilbert's is in the latter category, staying open as-is indefinitely.

One of the issues the team may need to address is an ongoing problem with roaches, which some reviewers on Google and commenters in the San Antonio Restaurants group on Facebook have voiced concerns about. It's more than a rumor; the restaurant replied on Google at least once two years ago that it was regularly treating the space. It's not clear when the most recent roach issues occurred. Some customers also took issue with an 18 percent service charge being added to the check.

Still, the restaurant still has mostly positive reviews, garnering 4.4 stars with more than 1,000 responses — not to mention all those supportive fans on social media.

Ashley closed her video by thanking regulars and saying the restaurant needs more of them to stay afloat. She asked viewers to support mom-and-pop businesses in general.

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