CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Downtown Corpus Christi is getting a new restaurant added to its unique development. El Camino is the latest business venture of the Lomax family.
“We want to be a mirror to the community, we don’t want to be avante-garde or try to teach them something new," Richard Lomax, the owner of El Camino, said. "Like I said, we want to be a mirror of what they're used to and accustomed to and give them exactly what they want.”
Richard Lomax said the urge to bring a new Mexican restaurant to the downtown area has been more than three decades in the making. His father, Brad, opened a similar restaurant in the 80s, in the same location.
“It used to be a Mexican restaurant and it was open for about eight months and it just didn’t work for the community. People loved the food and I think we saw a line out the door at the Oyster Bar and then it was half empty in here here. I think we did it too early," Lomax said.
Now, they're bringing back the same concept with some Tex-Mex flare. As the community has seem many businesses come and go, Lomax said he and his family are actively working to bring a diverse experience to those living in and visiting the downtown area.
“We just didn’t want to be part of the problem," Lomax said. "There’s this stigma downtown that there’s boarded up buildings and it’s not moving forward and people are just camping out on their land and not doing anything with it. We certainly didn’t want to do that."
In an effort to encourage other local business owners to open up shop, the Downtown Management District said restaurants like El Camino and other businesses owned by the Lomax family can help show the effective possibilities of investing in our own community.
“This new concept is different than anything that exists on that block," Alyssa Mason with the Downtown Management District said. "It’s going to be a unique experience and we’re always trying to add that diversity in order to create a really robust neighborhood that people can come down to every night of the week and have something unique that they experience.”
El Camino is still under construction, but to give community members are sneak peak at what's to come, they're opening the bar area for a pop-up experience Friday, Nov. 3, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. A limited menu will be provided.
Lomax said he's hoping to officially open El Camino by the end of the year.
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