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 concep ...

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 ...

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s 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 territorie ...

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 time ...

(near the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, 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 org ...

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, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

(near the

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

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 Me ...

on site, at the time the order is placed. In 2006, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' 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 The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, 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