ELLSWORTH, Maine — Nearly two years after Burger King exited their High Street location, a new Mexican restaurant has taken its place.
Casa Jalisco has been undergoing renovations inside the space since March, when plans for the restaurant were announced.
Casa Jalisco is jointly owned by restaurateurs behind Las Palapas in Bangor and Brewer and El Agave’s in Augusta, the Ellsworth American has reported. Eriberto Guzman of Veazie is the registered agent for all four restaurants, according to the state Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions.
The Ellsworth space had been vacant since the fast food restaurant closed in December 2020, one of four Burger Kings owned by Steve Wegner of Orono closed at the same time. Earlier in 2020, Wegner closed three other Burger Kings in Aroostook County. He also closed one in Calais in 2014.
Casa Jalisco is the second Mexican-style restaurant in Ellsworth to open in the past two years. Margaritas, a chain restaurant with two dozen other locations in the Northeast, opened on Main Street in 2020 in a space formerly occupied by The Mex. 86 This, which specializes in wraps and burritos, opened in downtown Ellsworth in 2011.
Another Mexican restaurant, Mi Sombrero, opened in Ellsworth in 2019 but lasted only a few months. It was replaced the following year by Siam Sky, a Thai restaurant with another location in Blue Hill.
