Tumbleweed Tex Mex Grill & Margarita Bar (also known as Tumbleweed Mexican Food, and Tumbleweed Southwest Grill & Bar) is a

chain restaurant A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...

based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. It serves an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Mexican cuisine Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican Cuisine, Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agr ...

in a combination

Tex-Mex Tex-Mex cuisine (derived from the words ''Texas'' and ''Mexico'') is a regional American cuisine that originates from the culinary creations of Tejanos, Tejano people. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern ...

and Southwest style. Tumbleweed's menu includes Continental food, encompassing such foods as chicken and steak. The other major style of cuisine is a Mexican-themed menu, including

burrito A burrito (, ) or burro in Mexico is, historically, a regional name, among others, for what is known as a taco, a tortilla filled with food, in other parts of the country. The term ''burrito'' was regional, specifically from Guanajuato, Guerre ...

chimichanga A chimichanga ( , ) is a deep-fried burrito that is common in Tex-Mex and other Southwestern U.S. cuisine. The dish is typically prepared by filling a flour tortilla with various ingredients, most commonly rice, cheese, beans, and a meat, such ...

chili con queso Chile con queso (), sometimes simply called queso, is an appetizer or side dish of melted cheese and chili peppers, typically served in Tex-Mex restaurants as a dip for tortilla chips. It can also be added to other dishes such as tacos. Back ...

, and house salads.

History

Tumbleweed Tex Mex Grill & Margarita Bar serves

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

-style foods. George R. Keller and his wife Linda opened the first Tumbleweed restaurant in 1975 in

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

(directly across the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

from Louisville), across the road from New Albany High School, and was originally called Tumbleweed Mexican Food. Then in 1978, Linda converted her parents' Hillside Manor restaurant and bar on Mellwood Avenue in Louisville into a Tumbleweed. This location became the flagship for what was to become a chain of restaurants. In 1994, the restaurant was renamed Tumbleweed Southwest Grill & Bar. In 1995, the Kellers sold the business to sixty local area investors for US$9.8 million and an additional US$1 million in a clause not to compete against the company's new owners. The company then became a publicly traded company to help fuel its expansion in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

and overseas markets. John Butorac Jr., took over as president of the company, he was also the former vice president for

Chi-Chi's Chi-Chi's is a Belgian Chain store, restaurant chain and a Mexican-styled grocery items owned by MegaMex Foods. The son of one of the original co-founders recently revived the brand by preparing to open two restaurants in Minnesota. The name ...

. In 2002, Terrance Smith, CEO of the establishment, was seeking ownership of the company with two other investors. However, on December 18, 2007, Terrance Smith resigned as president and CEO after seven years when the views of the company's board of directors began to diverge from his views. Matthew Higgins became the new president and CEO of the company, with his twin brother, Michael Higgins, as COO. Tumbleweed filed for bankruptcy in 2009. At the time of filing, the firm had 37 company-owned or franchised locations left in the states of Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky and had one licensed location each in Germany and Kuwait. The company was able to emerge from bankruptcy the following year. Still, the company was not performing as well as it would like and was forced to close 8 out of 32 remaining locations in the tri-state area in 2014 after previously withdrawing from overseas operations. Locations in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

closed in 2008 after the local franchise owner filed for bankruptcy. As of 2024, the restaurant operates 15 locations in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, including company-owned and franchise locations.

International

In 1999, Tumbleweed began to expand overseas and had several overseas locations by 2006. The company had a restaurant on an American Army base located in

Vilseck, Germany Vilseck is a town and municipality () in the Oberpfalz region of northeastern Bavaria, Germany, situated on the river Vils (Naab), Vils, a tributary of the Naab river. , Vilseck's population was 6,768 citizens, who live within an area of consi ...

, that was known for its slow service. All of these locations were closed before 2014.

Sedona Grill

In 2007, Tumbleweed Restaurants decided that it wanted to expand into the upscale restaurant field by opening a separate chain called Sedona Grill with the first location being opened in Lima, Ohio in early 2007. The original plan was to have five locations opened by the end of the year. Ultimately, only one other location was opened, also in Ohio, before the company finally closed the money-losing operation at the beginning of 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tumbleweed Tex Mex Grill and Margarita Bar Companies based in Louisville, Kentucky Mexican restaurants New Albany, Indiana Restaurants established in 1975 Restaurants in Indiana Restaurants in Kentucky Restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky Restaurants in Ohio Regional restaurant chains in the United States American companies established in 1975 1975 establishments in Indiana