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The donkey's not dead- it's getting a facelift.
Carrollton's first Mexican restaurant, The Lazy Donkey, will reopen under new management and with a new appearance, possibly by November, according to owner Jesse Onate.
A native of Mexico who has been in the restaurant business for 33 years, Onate owns Monterrey Mexican restaurants in Douglasville, Chamblee, Smyrna, and Riverdale. He has been credited with opening the first Mexican restaurant in Atlanta, the Monterrey in Chamblee back in 1974. He also owns the El Ranchero Mexican restaurant in Newnan.
The Lazy Donkey's original owner, Orlando Rivera, operated the Bankhead Highway restaurant for nearly 25 years. It began as a small gas station with a drive-in window, which Rivera turned into a small bar. The area was a small strip mall, with an Exxon gas station, neighbored by a fish bait and beer store and a Tasty Freeze ice cream parlor. Rivera later converted the fish bait and beer shop and the ice cream shop next door into the dining area of the restaurant.
The restaurant became an icon of Carrollton dining.
"When we started working on the front outside, it had aluminum shingles on there, four-by-four squares," said William Gray, the contractor working on the reinvention of the Lazy Donkey. "I remember years ago the Tasty Freeze had tile like these on the outside, and there was still some of that on the outside walls."
"We've had people from the college come by and see what's going on, saying they used to go to college here years ago and they would always eat here," Gray said.
In 2005, Rivera sold the restaurant to one of his employees, Gail Cuellar, who later closed it.
Onate's jump on the Lazy Donkey was not a last-minute move. He had his eye on the place for years.
"About 15 years ago I was looking for a plot in Carrollton," Onate said, "and I went to the Lazy Donkey and checked out the food and service. I like the atmosphere- it was like an old house. I met Orlando and I asked him if he was planning to sell it. Then we heard through a friend of ours that the place was going to close down. Orlando got it back from her (Cuellar) and put the property for sale, so I went through some friends and we bought it in January this year."
Onate decided to keep the Lazy Donkey name because it was the first Mexican restaurant in Carrollton. Also, he wants to keep the name in honor of his friend Rivera, who had devoted many years of hard work and effort to the business, Onate said.
Construction has been going on for nearly five months now, and many unanticipated changes have been made.
"We were going to just rebuild the bar a little bit, it wasn't going to be a major project," Gray said. "But in the old days they just added on and didn't do things up to code. So every time we opened a new section or project, we practically had to rebuild the whole area."
The entire bar area has been reworked from top to bottom, with a higher, loft-like ceiling, and a 30-by-32 foot bar that will hold 50 seats.
"The old bar was no more than 10 feet with a few chairs," Gray recalled. "The whole bar area was a waiting area, mainly just to entertain people for a few minutes before they got seated. Before, I wouldn't have even called that a bar."
There will be two handicap-accessible restrooms in the bar area- the restaurant's original restrooms were too small for wheelchair access. But Gray said he is still keeping the old bathrooms, though they will have new tile on the floors and ceilings and a wall to separate them from the dining area.
The kitchen has undergone a major transformation as well, with all new slip-resistant tiles and stainless steel walls. The kitchen ceiling will be rebuilt, too.
"The whole kitchen will be brand new," Gray said. "The building is very old so the kitchen was antique. I don't know of anything we are actually going to reuse other than some stainless steel tables."
The carpet that once covered the restaurant is gone, and it will be replaced with tan and cream-colored Mexican-style tiles.
"When we removed the carpet, we discovered the actual floors were asphalt, so we tore everything out and poured new slabs," Gray said. "I don't think Orlando expected the business to grow the way that it grew. It just all the sudden ran up on him and they were hustling to keep space and keep things rolling."
Perhaps one of the biggest improvements to the restaurant will be an expanded, paved parking lot. Onate owns the land next door to Gentle Paws pet grooming, and he plans to expand Lazy Donkey parking over toward the back of Gentle Paws. The new lot will provide much more parking space compared to the current gravel lot.
"When you drive in here it's a dust storm," Gray said.
Gray's team will also build a new storage facility in the back that will replace the worn-down shed that currently sits there.
The remodeling list continues: the entire building has new heating and air systems, and every doorway and window now has an arch. The dining room will be repainted in peach with mango trim, and they are looking to get Mexican-inspired artwork from local artists to garnish the walls.
Alan Kuykendall, a local artist who has lived in Carrollton for 30 years, painted the original Lazy Donkey sign out front years ago. He is coming back to touch up the paint on the sign¬- Onate wants to keep the sign because it has been there since the restaurant's beginnings.
Kuykendall is also giving the restaurant an 18-by-7 foot mural to display in the dining area. The mural is a college-type series of panels that represent Spanish and Latin American history and culture.
"I did this painting for a client, and that business went out of business, and they asked me to come and collect the mural," Kuykendall said. "I've had it for the last three years trying to find a home for it. When I saw the Lazy Donkey was being remodeled, I stopped by there. I like to keep the artwork local if I can and it seems like an ideal place to put it, since it's been a well established restaurant in the area."
The building's exterior will have an Alamo-like appearance; with stucco roof and brick trim around the arched windows. There is also a paved, sheltered walkway that covers nearly half the restaurants' perimeter, so customers can easily venture to the front door from the back parking lot.
The menu will be combination of original Lazy Donkey dishes and items from the Monterry menu.
"Orlando is going to come with us and help train one of my Monterrey chefs to do some of the dishes he was serving over there at the Lazy Donkey," Onate said. "He said he wanted to feel like he's still a part of the business, since he started the business."
Prices will average from $7 to $10 per meal. There will be lunch specials for lower prices and daily specials; the restaurant will be open seven days a week.
Onate is looking forward to the Lazy Donkey's grand opening and he is certain the business will do well.
"I want everything to be done right, at any of our restaurants. I'm not afraid to go in and check anything out. We keep it as clean as possible and we work pretty hard on that."
2 comments
I have done some renovation work so I know first hand how that can go.
Does Orlando and Roberto still have the other Rest. in town? Tell them Tina said hello.