BETHLEHEM, Pa. — ¡Ya casi llegamos!
Είμαστε σχεδόν εκεί!
We’re almost there!
Whether in Spanish, his native Greek, or English, reaction to the fast-approaching reopening of El Jefe’s Taqueria in Bethlehem is music to the ears of co-owner and Regional Manager Andreas Lysandropoulos.
Lysandropoulos said the authentic Mexican restaurant franchise may become the first part of the Five10 Flats apartment and retail complex at 510 E. Third St. to reopen.
The complex was closed after a massive May 2 fire heavily damaged the living units, displacing 135 residents.
"They see me walking behind the gates in front of the restaurant and say they can’t wait to come back to the restaurant. I tell them, ‘Guys, we’re almost there!’”Andreas Lysandropoulos, co-owner, El Jefe Taqueria
Extensive water damage to El Jefe and Starbucks on the ground floor caused the businesses to remain closed for repairs.
A fence erected around the structure while it's being worked on remains.
But Lysandropoulos said El Jefe’s Taqueria's reopening may come this month.
“We think everything is looking good,” he said in a phone call from Greece, where he and his wife were attending the wedding of a friend and the christening of a child.
“We just ordered Opening Soon signs. We should have the store handed back to us after all the repairs and hope to be open by the weekend of Aug. 29.
“Everywhere I go, people know me and ask, ‘When will you reopen?’ They see me walking behind the gates in front of the restaurant and say they can’t wait to come back to the restaurant.
"I tell them, ‘Guys, we’re almost there!’”
Sense of loyalty
Lysandropoulos said the restaurant suffered fairly significant water damage to the ceiling, walls and floor.
Paul Davis Restoration, of Allentown, was hired to gut the 2,100-square-foot venue, rebuild and dehumidify it, Lysandropoulos said.
“We are also grateful for our employees, who are always asking us in our group chats what they can do to help.”El Jefe’s Taqueria co-owner and Regional Manager Andreas Lysandropoulos
“We also needed to buy some new equipment to replace the ones that were damaged, but were able to save some of the existing equipment,” he said.
“We are also grateful for our employees, who are always asking us in our group chats what they can do to help.”
That sense of loyalty is among the reasons El Jefe said he has paid all 25 employees a bi-weekly salary since the restaurant closed.
“We’ve paid them as if they were working a normal week,” Lysandropolous said.
“We did the same thing during COVID when certain employees had to stay home with their kids because schools were closed.
We value our employees.”
The targeted reopening this month mirrors El Jefe’s grand opening in Bethlehem on Aug. 31, 2018, when it became one of nine such franchises in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
