After 39 years, Lolo’s Mexican Restaurant closes last SLO County location. ‘We’re so blessed’
When Nick Mendoza was a kid, his aunt prepared homemade enchiladas and tamales every Christmas — one of his favorite parts of the holiday season.
Then, in 1985, he started dishing up his family’s recipes himself at Lolo’s Mexican Restaurant in Morro Bay.
During the past 39 years, Nick and his wife Becky added new recipes to the menu, raised their two sons in the restaurant and built lasting relationships with their customers and employees.
But that all came to end Sunday, when after nearly four decades the Mendozas closed the beloved institution as they retired.
“We’re just really grateful to have been able to have raised our kids here and live and work in such a nice place,” Becky told The Tribune on Monday, the day after the restaurant closed for good.
Lolo’s Mexican Restaurant served family recipes for 39 years
Nick’s Uncle Lolo and Aunt Esper opened the first Lolo’s Mexican Restaurant in Paso Robles in 1980.
In 1985 — just one year after Nick and Becky got married — the family invited the newlyweds to open another Lolo’s in Morro Bay. The couple decided to take a risk and move to San Luis Obispo County from the Bay Area.
Meanwhile, Nick’s parents opened a Lolo’s in Salinas at about the same time.
The menu was filled with family recipes, most of which were developed by Nick’s Aunt Esper. When he was growing up, the same salsa served at the restaurant made a regular appearance at family barbecues and the family-made enchilada casserole and tamales would grace their tables every year for Christmas, he told The Tribune.
Nick and Becky eventually added seafood dishes like fish tacos, shrimp and salmon to the menu as a nod to their coastal location. The couple also experimented with adding chile verde and chile colorado to pasta — recipes that soon became customer favorites.
At the same time, the Mendozas were raising their two sons in the restaurant.
On Monday, Becky remembered plopping one of her sons in a high chair by the waitress station where he’d eat rice and beans for lunch. There, he’d smile at waitresses and customers as they walked by — often wearing much of his lunch on his face, Becky said.
“He would sit there for an hour and a half, perfectly happy while I was running around working,” she said.
Later, their sons worked in the restaurant before leaving town for college.
The Mendozas also had long-standing staff who felt like family, some who worked at Lolo’s for more than 20 years, Becky said.
That’s part of the reason the Morro Bay location of Lolo’s Mexican Restaurant was the final one to close, she added.
“We wouldn’t have been able to stick this out without our loyal employees,” she said.
Customers say goodbye: ‘We’re happy for you, we’re sad for us’
The week before the closure, community members packed the restaurant to enjoy one final meal and thank the Mendozas for decades of hospitality.
“We had so much business that we turned our phones off,” Becky said. “We couldn’t take reservations, we couldn’t take to-go’s. There was so much cooking.”
On Saturday morning, customers lined up in the parking lot 30 minutes before the restaurant opened. Throughout the day, some customers even waited an hour and a half to be seated, Becky said.
Meanwhile, Nick dashed to Spencer’s Fresh Market to stock up on enough supplies make it though the day.
“By Friday night, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re not going to make it to Sunday — we’re going to run out of food,’” Becky said.
The Mendozas served generations of families during the past 39 years.
Many Morro Bay residents were raised on Lolo’s dishes, and when they grew up, they brought their kids to enjoy the restaurant. Nick joked that once people had a taste of the family salsa recipe, they’d be hooked for life.
“Everyone would tell us how they remember having all their birthday celebrations, or they got engaged here, or they had their wedding party here,” Becky said.
Parting customers often told the Mendozas same thing: “We’re happy for you, we’re sad for us,” Becky said.
What do former Lolo’s owners plan to do during retirement?
In light of the closure, Lolo’s fans asked the Mendozas to write a cookbook — and Nick said he’d consider the project.
The challenge would be reducing recipes that make three to five gallons of food to more manageable portion sizes for home cooking, he said.
The Mendozas plan to spend their retirement enjoying Morro Bay, traveling and spending more time with their grandchildren who live in another part of California. Visiting family will be easier without the pressures of running a restaurant, Becky said.
“Time is so fleeting, we didn’t want to work until we’re decrepit,” she said.
The Mendozas assured their customers that they’ll still be active in the community.
“We’re going to be here — we’ll run into you at Spencer’s,” Nick said. “When we first moved here, I don’t think we realized what a gem of a place Morro Bay is. We’re so blessed with this community.”
