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Robin Garr

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Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Robin Garr » Wed May 17, 2017 9:46 am

Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

LEO's Eats with Robin Garr

A sizzling gordita, the namesake item at Las Gorditas.
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Is there any culture, anywhere, that does not delight in the joys of wrapping carbohydrates around protein or vegetables and eating it out of hand? From the humble sandwich to empanada, kreplach, pita and Asian bao, among many more, I can’t think of any cuisine that doesn’t boast some kind of portable meal like this.

Tacos have become so familiar north of the border that they seem just as all-American as, well, pizza or gyros. But some of the taco’s heftier cousins might still need an introduction. The arepa, for example, the iconic dish of Colombia and Venezuela; the pupusa of El Salvador and Honduras; and then there’s Mexico’s lovable gordita, which translates roughly as “the little chubby one.”

All three of these goodies are similar: cornmeal or masa dough is patted into a thick round, cooked on a hot skillet or griddle until it browns and puffs up, and then is split to make room for a variety of delicious fillings. We’ve met the arepa recently at Nahyla’s Restaurant (March 1, 2017), and filled up on pupusas at La Guanaquita Restaurante (Sept. 22, 2016).

This week it’s time to reacquaint ourselves with the gordita at an old favorite made new again: Las Gorditas, which has operated a popular food trailer in front of the Eastland Shopping Center on Bardstown Road for the past 10 years or so, has launched a full-service, bricks-and-mortar shop - also called Las Gorditas - a mile or so out the road in Fern Creek.

Fans of the gordita trailer will be pleased to know that it will continue in operation at Eastland on its usual Friday-through-Monday evening schedule. The new shop, however, stands prepared to serve your gordita needs - and other Mexican dishes, too - for lunch and dinner every day but Monday.

It takes a lot of work to run a restaurant and food trailer with a small crew, said owner Pat Costas, who runs Las Gorditas with his wife, Esperanza, and her sister, Ofelia Ortiz. But he says their growing fan base has been begging them to do it. (He also said they’re looking hard for more good help. Looking for a job in the restaurant business with friendly folks? Give Pat a shout at the contact info below.) ...

Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/las-g ... urant-glad

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly’s Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Las Gorditas
8402 Hudson Lane
492-0112
Facebook: http://bit.ly/LasGorditas
Robin Garr’s rating: 86 points
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scott.wade

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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by scott.wade » Tue May 23, 2017 5:41 am

Planned on going Sunday with a couple friends, but they were closed due to staffing issues. They are really nice people and I hope they can get this resolved.
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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Terri Beam » Fri May 26, 2017 4:16 pm

Unfortunately we ran into the same situation last night (Thursday). They were closed way before the posted closing time.

They are apparently running into difficulties finding enough bilingual employees to staff both the trailer and the restaurant on the same nights. I can understand the need as a sizable number of people who eat there don't appear to speak English very well (if at all).

The BF spotted a sign indicating they've applied for some sort of liquor or beer license, so at least they're still going ahead with plans.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Robin Garr » Thu Jun 01, 2017 8:09 am

I'm getting troubling reports from Creekers on Twitter indicating that the Hudson Lane shop has stayed closed for the past several days. I know Pat was having a hard time finding help. :( Anyone have info on this?
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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Steve Shade » Thu Jun 01, 2017 9:57 am

Closed Tuesday afternoon. I did not find any hours open posted anywhere.
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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Robin Garr » Thu Jun 01, 2017 10:19 am

Steve Shade wrote:Closed Tuesday afternoon. I did not find any hours open posted anywhere.

I've put out a call to Pat Costas. That would be very sad if they had to close, but I'm not going to assume that just yet.
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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Robin Garr » Thu Jun 01, 2017 10:08 pm

Well, sad news from Pat Costas, owner of Las Gorditas. He did indeed decide to close the new shop. Unable to find help, he simply couldn't keep up the hours required to make a go of both the successful food trailer and a bricks-and-mortar store, so the latter had to go.

Here's Pat's response to my query via FB Messenger. I'll also post this to a new topic.

Pat Costas wrote:Unfortunately yes. We couldn't handle the business. We tried to find people to work but we were unsuccessful. We ended up working 95 hours per week which is way too much. We are very sorry but we are still operating the food truck. It will be open Monday now also.
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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Steve Shade » Sat Jun 03, 2017 5:21 pm

Very sad. :cry: I was looking forward to being at the restaurant. Very close to my home.

Of course, I will still use the truck, but I would have liked the sit-down place.
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Re: Las Gorditas adds a full restaurant, and we’re glad.

by Adriel Gray » Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:55 am

Went to the old truck over the weekend. They seemed relieved to be back to their same routine and were really busy. Our food and service was great. I hope they can move on and be successful.

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