The “Hip Hops” beer column is taking a week off. You’re all drinking mint juleps, anyway.
The message from Taco Luchador Colonial Gardens is short and to the point: “We are closed. Please visit us at our Highlands, St Matthews, and Jtown locations.”
At Louisville Business First, Michael L. Jones offers two sides of the taqueria story.
Rick Moir, co-owner of Olé Hospitality Group, which operates the Louisville-based taqueria chain, said the decision to close the Colonial Gardens restaurant was a tough one.
“We would have loved for this location to succeed like our other locations but unfortunately it did not,” Moir said. “The Taco Luchador team appreciates all our guests that visited the Colonial Gardens location and invite them to continue their patronage at our Taco Luchador locations located in the Highlands, Jeffersontown, and St. Matthews.”
Colonial Gardens developer Jeff Underhill’s viewpoint differs:
Underhill said the businesses that succeed in South Louisville are ones that connect with community organizations and groups. He didn’t think the owners of Taco Luchador were interested in that.
“I don’t think they gave a lot of attention to the South End,” Underhill said. “I don’t think that they got involved in learning their neighbors, or had high energy for for participating in any marketing efforts. I don’t know if it’s just a matter of where what their priorities are, but I wish they had spent more time in developing contacts in Beechmont and Iroquois neighborhoods,” he said.
