It's Official: Don Pablo's Coming Back

From Don Pablo's to Tropicana to The Loft to Don Pablo's, the restaurant at 5911 Fruitville Road will return to its roots May 23.

Local restauranteur and builder Steve Rinehart announced today that Dan Pablo's will return to the space with a grand opening later this month. Drivers travelling Fruitville Road near Interstate 75 have noticed the Don Pablo's banner teasing diners, and now it's official.

Before, the restaurant was The Loft Ristobar, which closed in December. Rinehart had managed the previous Don Pablo's and owned The Loft, and now is a franchisee for Don Pablo's. A Cuban restaurant, Tropicana, was operated by another set of owners between the first Don Pablo's and The Loft.

"We always referred it as 'The Old Don Pablo's,' when people wondered where The Loft was," Rinehart told Patch. And he soon discovered that the power of a regional or national brand was much more powerful than trying to establish yourself as an independent restaurant in a ultra competitive dining city, he said.

Rob Ault will be the general manager for the restaurant.

The restaurant is known for its Tex-Mex dishes, The Don's homemade salsa, margaritas, and complimentary tortilla chips. And now, a newly added gluten free menu.

"We're bringing back the fountain and tortilla station — the things that people remember fondly about Don Pablo's," Rinehart said

All coins thrown into the fountain will be donated to All Faiths Food Bank, he said.

The renovations also include improving the acoustics inside the building, Rinehart said.

"The new overall noise will not be as loud as the previous Don Pablo's," he said.

Don Pablo's had gone bankrupt in the early 2000s and in 2006, all four Tampa Bay locations, which included Sarasota, were ordered to close as part of the court ordered action, Rinehart said. A pension fund acquired the brand and hired another company to restructure and reshape the brand, Rinehart said.

"Now they're in a position to expand, and they want to expand corporately as well as franchise," he said.

Rinehart will be Don Pablo's first-ever franchisee. 

In addition to familiar dining options, Don Pablo's faithful will notice changes since it was last open in 2006.

"Approaching the 2006 bankrupcty, the menu had floated a little bit and went to authentic Mexican. They were kind of a little sporadic and they brought the menu back to Tex-Mex," Rinehart said. "The new menu itmes have a few steak choices, chicken choices, a grilled shrimp choice whereas before you didn't have those choices."

The following specials will be offered:

• $5.99 Speedy Lunch

• Mondays: Two for $20 dip sampler appetizer and fajitas for two

• Tuesdays: All-you-can-eat tacos lunch or dinner

• Wednesdays: Fajitas specials

• Thursdays: All-you-can-eat enchiladas for lunch and dinner

The restaurant will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturdays.