Pancheros Mexican Grill (sometimes referred to as Panch ) is a chain of

fast casual A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate conc ...

Tex Mex Tex-Mex cuisine (from the words ''Texan'' and ''Mexican'') is an American cuisine that derives from the culinary creations of the ''Tejano'' people of Texas. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United ...

restaurants in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

serving Mexican-style cuisine. The chain was founded in 1992 by Rodney Anderson when he opened two units: one in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

(near the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

campus), and one in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

(near the Michigan State University campus). There are currently 72 units throughout the country. Pancheros is known for making their

tortillas A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indigenous peoples of M ...

on site, at the time the order is placed. In 2006, ''Sports Illustrated'' voted Pancheros the most popular place to eat when bars in Iowa City close.

History

In 1992, Anderson, after just receiving his MBA from the University of Chicago, opened the first Pancheros with capital made from the stock market. The first store was opened in Iowa City, next to the

campus. The next 10 locations opened in similar midwestern college towns. It wasn't until 1998 that Pancheros was revamped to include the addition of a dough press for the famous fresh-pressed tortillas, and an updated, more upscale restaurant decor. In 2003 its first non-corporate store opened. Bob the Tool was first introduced in restaurants in 2007.

References

External links

Official website
{{Fast-food chains of the United States Fast casual restaurants Mexican-American cuisine Mexican restaurants in the United States Companies based in Iowa Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Fast-food Mexican restaurants Restaurant chains in the United States Cuisine of the Western United States Restaurants established in 1992 Restaurants in Iowa American companies established in 1992 Coralville, Iowa

History

See also

References

External links