{"id":2447,"date":"2018-09-14T08:07:30","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T13:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/?p=2447"},"modified":"2018-09-15T15:23:57","modified_gmt":"2018-09-15T20:23:57","slug":"mr-gs-packed-as-closing-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/mr-gs-packed-as-closing-looms\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. G’s Packed As Closing Looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>

I showed up on a rainy Saturday afternoon to take Mr. G\u2019s photograph. \u201cCome about 2,\u201d he said on the phone the day before. \u201cIt usually slows down by then.\u201d When I opened the door to Gonzalo\u2019s Mexican Restaurant, about a half-dozen folks turned to see who was entering. They were waiting for a table, while Mr. G. \u2013 Gonzolo Hernandez \u2013 stood behind the cash register, the three walls behind him covered in snapshots.<\/p>\n

So much for not being busy.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s how it has been at Gonzolo\u2019s \u2013 which most folks call Mr. G\u2019s \u2013 since the 78-year-old owner announced he was closing the restaurant he has operated for half his life on Sept. 30. After 39 years, business has slowed to where he is losing money, no doubt a result of the proliferation of chain restaurants in Longview over the past couple years. He had no plans to retire, even as his 79th<\/sup> birthday approached.<\/p>\n

I took his photo as the waiting diners watched. The wall behind him contains the photos of the famous \u2013 Longview graduate Matthew McConaughey, among others \u2013 and the children of many of his loyal adult customers. Mr. G and his crew of a half-dozen, including his wife, have been serving up what I consider the best Tex-Mex in town to three or four generations of East Texans. My Beautiful Mystery Companion\u2019s family has been coming here for nearly as long as he has been open. Snapshots of two of the toddlers of that clan adorn those walls. With 10 years literally under my belt of ordering either the huevos rancheros<\/em> or tacos al carbon<\/em>, I am a relative newcomer. As I took his photo, a woman watching said, \u201cI\u2019ve been coming here for 38 years, and I order the same thing every time.\u201d I can relate.<\/p>\n

Mr. G\u2019s is modestly furnished, with mismatched chairs and threadbare carpet. It\u2019s clean and homey, but it doesn\u2019t match, d\u00e9cor-wise, the interiors of the fancy chains that have arrived here lately. But no chain can equal the welcome one gets at this restaurant from the short, rotund proprietor, with his constant smile. Or the food, especially the salsa.<\/p>\n

I joked to Mr. G that maybe he should announce more often \u2013 as he did on Facebook \u2013 that he was closing to get folks to return. Over the past several months, he has posted warnings that if business did not improve, he would close. \u201cOh, no,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean it this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In my time patronizing Mr. G\u2019s, I have watched as he greeted everyone, almost always by name. Women are hugged, men get a handshake, and babies are fawned over. The restaurant seats about 50, so when full it has the feel of a family get-together. The waitresses have been working there for years as well, and they know the patrons\u2019 drink orders without asking \u2014 unsweet iced tea for me, water with lemon for my BMC and our daughter Abbie. Like most everyone else, apparently, we three almost always order the same thing. When we switch it up, often the waitress must scratch out what she has already written down.<\/p>\n

I went back the next day, Sunday morning, a few minutes after Mr. G\u2019s opened to give him a framed print, planning to eat lunch. At 11:15, the line was to the door. I left but intend to return at least once in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

A customer asked what he was going to do with all those photos on the walls \u2013 the babies, movie stars, football players and kids posed beneath Christmas trees. \u201cI\u2019m going to take them all down, put them in a scrapbook and whenever I get lonely take it out and look at them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

I think when I return before month\u2019s end, I\u2019ll order a quart of that salsa. Vaya con Dios<\/em>, Mr. G.<\/p>\n

Print this entry<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Print this entryI showed up on a rainy Saturday afternoon to take Mr. G\u2019s photograph. \u201cCome about 2,\u201d he said on the phone the day before. \u201cIt usually slows down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[55,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-55","category-columns"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2459,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions\/2459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}