Abril Cocina closing

https://villagegreennj.com/food-wellness/maplewood-villages-abril-cocina-announces-closing-last-day-feb-24/

A prsonal note here.  As I was growing up it seems like all the men in the previous generation were 

involved in restaurants .  One great Uncle owned the largest restaurant in Wilmington Deleware.

It was called the "New Yorker" and was the place to be seen.

My Grandfather owned a never ending string of small restaurants.  During the Depression no one was ever turned down for a meal whether they be Kings or cashless peasants. His life was filled with hard work and the philosophy that "yes, I am my brother'a keeper.

One time I asked my then elderly great Aunt,  my Grandmother's sister.  why these young Greeks come over and go and go into the restaurant business

She answered, "they think it will be easy"

On a side note, walking by the old Highland yesterday, I am fairly impressed with the investment the Lorena's folks are putting into the building there....

we are quite sad to hear about Abril Cocina-one of our favorite places.

It's a tough place to succeed.  Front of the house is very small.

I've lost count of how many restaurants have been in that space since we moved here.

Funny it felt like the place was open a lot longer but here is a thread from 2015:

https://maplewood.worldwebs.com/forums/discussion/abril-cocina?page=next&limit=

I never ate there, so I can't say much other than I'm sorry they have to close. I agree with Los Dos Yahoos ... that's a tough stretch for a restaurant to flourish. Small spaces.

mrincredible said:
Funny it felt like the place was open a lot longer but here is a thread from 2015:


https://maplewood.worldwebs.com/forums/discussion/abril-cocina?page=next&limit=


I never ate there, so I can't say much other than I'm sorry they have to close. I agree with Los Dos Yahoos ... that's a tough stretch for a restaurant to flourish. Small spaces.

 maybe if you ate there they wouldn't have to close.

I didn't realize I was directly responsible for their closing. 

Given our average monthly dining out budget I highly doubt I'm making or breaking anyone.

Abril Cocino is the classic case of " no good deed goes unpunished"

When I’ve been by, they usually looked busy....sorry to hear they are closing.

For better or worse, we like tequila drinks with our Mexican food, so end up at places with liquor licenses.  I hope that that can someday include small and excellent places like Avril Covina, with needed legislative changes.

mrincredible said:
I didn't realize I was directly responsible for their closing. 
Given our average monthly dining out budget I highly doubt I'm making or breaking anyone.

 I'm just messing around, lighten up Francis.

What a shame.  I thought the food was unusual, high end Mexican dishes, subtly and tastily prepared.  

Their pulled pork tacos were really excellent, the best tacos I've had in NJ outside of Taqueria Downtown.  A real loss for an area that could use some decent Mexican food.

I love this place andI'm really disappointed to hear that they're closing. Mario is a very nice guy and from what I hear, very nice to work for. They always seemed busy and I'm hoping that they are not closing because of poor business but rather something positive. Perhaps a move?

They should open a place in Jersey City or Hoboken. It would thrive...

-s.

I’m utterly not surprised. I’m quite a foodie and generally quite agreeable. But the owner was a typical diva chef in my discussion with him and completely uninterested in customer service. Perhaps some of you hAd good experiences, but human nature is generally consistent and I’m quite sure I wasn’t the only one treated that way.

Nothing but great experiences and I found the customer service to be excellent as was the food.

Service was always warm and friendly and I was there probably a dozen times. We interacted with the owner several of those times.