After 60 years of serving Austinites, the popular Mexican restaurant El Gallo is closing its doors.
It was 1957 when Abraham and Maria Kennedy took the South Congress community by storm, introducing them to authenticTex-Mex.
They began in a small pink house on La Vista and within a few years, the eatery was upgraded to the building we see today, with additional patio seating and extra dining areas.
Abel, their son, has been running the restaurant with his wife and mother after his father passed away 15 years ago. Now, the couple is ready for retirement.
“It’s just got very difficult to work, 14,15,16 hours a day, every day. I'm pushing 60 myself,” Kennedy said.
And it was last year when Kennedy’s mother passed, making it even harder to keep the business going.
“She was the heart and soul of this restaurant... It's just time to leave while we're on top rather than on the bottom,” he said.
Kennedy learned the business as a child, he believes it’s in his blood.
"I remember I came walking in one time and my dad was sitting in the dish pit washing dishes, I went, 'Dad, what are you doing washing dishes, I can't believe, you own the restaurant. and you're washing dishes.' He said, 'Mijo, when you own a business you learn how to do everything and there is no shame in working—ever,” Kennedy said.
And although the workload isn’t easy, it’s worth it if it means seeing familiar faces year round.
"That's the whole thing about these restaurants, the new ones they put in they are contemporary, gorgeous, but they're not like these, they don't have this feeling,” one loyal customer said.
The customers are what Kennedy says he will miss the most, like Juanita Navarro. She has been eating at El Gallo for 35 years.
“Very sad, it’s like losing a family member,” Navarro said.
Navarro has actually had several uncles and cousins work with Kennedy, too.
"That's an icon for nowadays, you don't see family owned businesses as much as you did in the past,” she said.
The idea of leaving still hasn’t sunk in with less than a few days left to operate.
“It doesn't seem real to us yet,” Co-owner and wife of Abel, Jill Kennedy said.
The owner says the property is not for sale as of now. They're still working out what to do next, their last day is Sunday at lunch.
El Gallo is located at 910 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704.
Weekdays they are open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and weekends 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.