When Mo’s Irish Pub suddenly closed in April, it was rumored its space in the northwest Houston community of Cypress would be the future home of a Mexican restaurant. Alas, it appears those plans, like its former employees, have been jettisoned.
A lockout notice was posted July 17 on the door at 14102 Mueschke Road, addressed to the tenant, Lago Mariscos II Inc. In that notice, landlord Emmanor Capital 1 LLC wrote that the tenant had broken the lease agreement.
“You are in default under the Lease, including but not limited to the obligation to pay rent and to not abandon the premises,” the notice stated.
News of the lockout circulated last week on the Cypress Area Foodies and Fooding Facebook group. Group administrator Stacy Tran told Chron on Thursday that an anonymous party had told her that Mo’s had apparently tried to sublease its space to Lago Mariscos, a Mexican seafood restaurant with an existing location in Sugar Land. The business did not respond to Chron’s request for comment.
The issue is that adding Lago Mariscos to the shopping center broke an exclusivity agreement with the nearby Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen at 27030 Northwest Fwy.
Chron confirmed the claim after searching through public documents. When Gringo’s first acquired the 1.613-acre tract of the larger 8.602-acre shopping center in 2010, the owner of the center created a “Mexican Food Restriction” amendment. The amendment prohibited any restaurant on the property from operating if Mexican food exceeded “30% of the total menu items if, and only if, said restaurant also sells alcoholic beverages for on-premise consumption.”
The restriction remains in effect for 25 years.
Tran said owners of shopping centers typically don’t like to put two of the same business in, but she disagrees that Lago Mariscos is similar to Gringo’s.
“I think they are both different. Gringo’s is more fast food Mexican stuff. Lago is more seafood Mexican food. They have real octopus. It’s totally different,” Tran said.
The restaurant manager at the nearby Gringo’s told Chron they didn’t know about the sublease situation. We reached out to Gringo’s corporate but have yet to hear back. An attorney for Emmanor Capital 1 told Chron they could not comment as it’s “something that is being worked out,” but the hope is that it will be a restaurant.
“It’s a perfect spot; people come up to me and ask what kind of restaurant it will be,” the attorney said.
Mo’s Irish Pub was the second-to-last Texas location of the Milwaukee-based Irish pub chain. The closing came at the surprise of its employees who found out about it in a group text.
