FAIRVIEW, Ala. – Fairview residents Mike and Amy Patton originally unveiled their plans for a new restaurant, Taco Granero, back in September 2019.
The Tribune spoke with Mike Patton to find out what’s happening.
“We absolutely still plan on opening!” he said. “We’re still actively working on it. The short version is this: we’re still looking to open the restaurant.”
The Pattons originally planned to build the restaurant at the corner of Welcome Road and Wesley Avenue, with construction set for Oct. 1, 2019.
Mike Patton explained, “The health department required that we look at a different location than we initially planned and so we are working with an engineer as we as we speak to move forward with Taco Granero. We are still planning to bring Taco Granero to Fairview. We are uncertain as to when we will open. Opening a restaurant in the county is much more complicated than in the city, as it pertains to dealing with the health department.”
He elaborated, “What happened was we had selected a lot in Fairview, and basically after the health department wanted a survey and wanted engineer designs created, we spent thousands of dollars on that stuff, we got it to the health department and they went, ‘No, you can’t use that spot of land, it’s too small.’ And so, there went a whole bunch of money and a whole bunch of time- several months of planning.
“In the meantime, we’ve been looking for another place to locate and then we have a different engineer working on plans for plumbing and whatnot because the problem with putting a business in the county is, it’s much more complicated because you don’t have a sewer, you have septic. When you have septic, the health department said, ‘Look, if you were in Cullman, you could’ve been up and running a long time ago,’ because you’re doing this in the county, you have to have special engineered plumbing, more hoops to jump through.”
Patton said he’s unsure when the process will move forward, but said, “When we do open, our goal is to be close enough to the school and the park where people that want to walk there can, and we want it to be affordable and convenient. There are a couple of places that we’ve picked out in Fairview that are convenient and not too far from where we wanted to be, initially. We haven’t decided 100% yet which one, but we got a couple of choices there and we’re really just waiting on other people to submit the work we’ve asked them to do. Once that’s in and the health department approves it, then we’ll start building.”
Patton said he is definitely committed to opening restaurant in Fairview.
“My wife and I moved to Fairview last May, and one of the first days we drove through here, I said, ‘There’s no real drive-through per say,’” he said. “Anywhere you go, you have to wait on their food, there’s not going to be a drive-thru order situation and you still have to leave a tip. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that! When we moved here a year ago, our kitchen was down in our home because we were remodeling our house. We didn’t have a kitchen for six weeks, so I ate at all three of these places Fairview has quite often, and I enjoy all three of them! The one thing I did notice is that, let’s say if you just wanted to jump in your vehicle and drive through somewhere that’s inexpensive and quick, there wasn’t a place like that. The idea for Taco Granero came from me driving down the road and I told my wife, ‘This place needs quick, affordable food.’ And that’s the whole premise and model of Taco Granero is convenient, affordable food.”
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