#50: Don Pablo’s
Don Pablo’s was a Mexican restaurant chain that was famous for its made-from-scratch sauces, salsa, and tortillas. The chain had 120 restaurants at its peak. It was the second-largest Mexican chain in the U.S. (next to Chi-Chi’s, which also went defunct). Don Pablo’s was founded in the 1990s.
When Food Management Partners bought it in 2014, that number had dwindled down to just thirty-four branches. By that time, Don Pablo’s had changed hands from parent company to parent company, and it had sold off around half of its locations to independent purchasers. In 2019, it shut its doors for good.