The restaurant serves Tex-Mex dishes such as quesadillas, burritos, tacos and nachos as well as American fare, such as chicken wings and burgers.
Margaritas and other beverages are available at the bar, and on Thursdays through Saturdays, live music can be heard pouring from the restaurant’s patio.
“When you open a business, it’s not because you want to open a business; you want to keep the business,” Reyes said.
Reyes said he learned a lot about how to run a restaurant through working in the industry for his entire life. Over the years, he has worked different positions at seafood and Mexican restaurants, eventually deciding to open his own place. Shortly after opening El Paso, Reyes opened a second restaurant in Conroe, Pedro’s.
Reyes said his wife and children also help run the restaurants, and over the years, the entire family has gotten to know El Paso’s regular customers well.
“Our regular customers, they know all my family,” Reyes said. “My daughter is in the Army, and every time she comes over, a lot of customers say, ‘Hi.’ So it’s like a family restaurant.”
Keeping a loyal customer base made up of at least 65% regular customers is what a restaurant needs to survive, Reyes said. While satisfying new customers is also important, Reyes said that portion of regular customers enables him to pay his bills.
“We just try to make the people come back, and I always like to pass [by] around the tables and look at it myself and try to see what’s wrong,” Reyes said.
Whether a patron is a newcomer or a regular, Reyes aims to make them feel like part of the family.
“You cannot run a business without family,” Reyes said. “They’re the support.”
El Paso Mexican Grill
7607 FM 1960, Houston
346-206-2933
www.elpasogrillhouston.com
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
