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Fresh-Mex eatery closes after six months
September 9th, 2009, 7:21 am · 35 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
Citing poor sales, Contodo Mexican Grill in Orange shut down last week after being open for six months.
The fast-casual Mexican eatery was founded by the same operators of Baja Fish Tacos.
A note posted on the restaurant’s door stated: “It has been tough staying afloat in this economy and unfortunately we cannot afford to stay open.”
Contodo tacos
The letter is dated Sept. 4.
“Oh, no. I really liked this place. I guess it’s back to Chipotle,” said one customer, who walked up to the door and read the goodbye note.
Like Chipotle, Contodo prepared meals (salads, burritos and tacos) buffet style. Everything was the same price: $5.95.
My take: The $5.95 price tag didn’t seem unreasonable for the fresh Mexican food served at Contodo. I personally loved the chain’s birria meat. (Read my previous Contodo story)
Contodo just opened in March
Contodo was at 970 N. Tustin Street, Orange. (Albertsons shopping center)
(This story generated by a reader tip. Send any ideas to nluna@ocregister.com)
More stories on restaurant closures:
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Ouch that sucks a lot, especially since it was right around the corner.
It was likely a lot like Baja Fresh — poor, unexciting food. No wonder it failed!
baja fresh is good. where do u go? chipotle?
Why not lower the prices and stay open for business…these places want to sale wannabe mexican tacos at outrageous prices no wonder they bomb..lower the prices and make better and maybe you will have some bussiness simple as that
Lou, did you ever visit Contodo, the pricing was right on the money. The portions were huge, staff was very friendly and always going out of there way for my family and myself. I’m still in shock over this. Nancy, thanks for covering my tip…
I’ll never understand these types of comments. Is 6 bucks really that expensive for above average quality fast food?
Lou -How much lower can one go? It was the location - Learn some English grammar while you’re looking for cheaper wholesome food.
We need a Moe’s out here in SoCal.
I think their biggest problem was location. Even though it faces Tustin Street, it’s not very noticeable while driving and it’s tucked into the corner opposite Albertson’s. Didn’t a Charo Chicken go out of business in this same location.
On a side note, I am surprised by the amount of retail that is along Tustin Street! It’s incredible that so many places can stay in business so it’s not a surprise to me that Contodo didn’t make it. I am actually surprised that more places don’t go out of business along that stretch.
I don’t think $5.95 is too expensive. If you do, you probably shouldn’t be going out of your house to eat. How cheap do you want food to be? I guess some people just have no clue what it costs to run a business, especially a food place.
Yes it was in the same location that Charo Chicken was in.
fully agree - the location is terrible. By lunch time it’s already in shadows and almost invisible as you past by on busy Tustin Ave. I enjoyed the food the time I went but it basically was a Chipotle ripoff
The birria was kind of odd. My understanding is that birria was goat, lamb or mutton but they told me it was beef when I had it. And it tasted like beef.
I meant to give it a try but never got around to it……….darn!
There are just so many places to eat out, so many coupons and offers for 2 for meal specials, that it is hard for a restaurant to stand out. It’s important to keep the restaurant name out and well known, and that means spending some advertising dollars, heavy twittering, and some serious facebook freebie offers. The new motto for business these days is “You gotta play to stay.”
Advertising certainly is key, although I think traditional advertising still works too (not everyone is a twittering, facebooking guru). And this place NEVER advertised as far as I could tell. The only reason I knew it was there was because of this blog and they did virtually nothing to make themselves stand out. I always just figured it was another no-name Mexican place like the hundreds of others strewn across our ever changing Orange County strip mall landscape.
You must not have lived within 1 mile of it, since they were constantly driving a billboard around…
No, I don’t live within one mile of this place. I think advertising in a one mile area isn’t very effective. Especially when you have so much competition. I don’t live within one mile of a lot of things that I am aware of.
I have to agree with State of Play. I live in Orange and never heard of this place. Given that the 1 mile square block area around Collins and Tustin can range from crowded apartments to near $1 million dollar homes bordering VP, if their advertising consisted of driving around in a truck no wonder they were doomed. And if they didn’t have the capital to last more than six months, they probably shouldn’t have opened in the first place.
Sorry to hear they went out though. Based on all of the patron descriptions, sounds like it was a very good place.
We have way too many mexican food places here. I wish that Rubio’s & Baja Fresh would close, they are not even close to authentic “good” mexican food. Went to Baja Fresh last night and ordered a chicken burrito. The chicken was way overdone, the tortilla was cold and the burrito was plain with no flavor. They stink. Get rid of em!
A little off topic but not too much - does anyone know why the Baja Fresh on Harbor and Nutmeg (Target shopping center) closed?
“And this place NEVER advertised as far as I could tell.”
They did some advertising.
Ok, then I stand corrected. However, do you feel their adverts were effective? I know a lot of places advertise and I can tell you that I remember their campaigns, but I can’t remember anything about Contodo. It seems they didn’t stand out. And by the letter the posted on their door it seems I’m not the only one who wasn’t affected by their advertising.
They frequently had a guy out front twirling a billboard sign…………………
Orange has a ALOT of Mmexican food places…………the competion is brutal here………I love Mexican food but would love to see some other types of fare offered around here………….
This past Monday me and my wife tried the Auld Irisher irish pub next to the new Bob’s big boy at the century theater…………some seriously good food that wasn’t Mexican!…………the fish and chips was wonderful!
I agree that it would be nice if there was some different offerings around that part of OC, but I don’t see that happening. Look at the demographic of the area, it’s majority Hispanic, right?
It depends on where you are talking. To the East of the location yes, to the West no.
I think people that live to the east of Tustin Street, generally, by and large, go farther east and south when they go out or shop… into Anaheim Hills or out to The MarketPlace or farther into Irvine. Tustin Street from about Lincoln to the end of it in Santa Ana is predominately frequented by Hispanics. And if you are talking about the area that Eric was — from Contodo west to Main and Katella, then the demographic is well known — poor, Hispanic, and immigrant. So therefore I don’t think you’ll likely see a noticeable drop in Mexican-style eateries.
I live in Orange and I’ve never heard of this place. Judging by the picture above, their sign was bland and indistinguishable from 50 yards away, so no wonder not enough customers stopped to try them out. Mexican food is way over-exposed now though, so they probably shouldn’t have tried in the first place.
And yes, the Auld Irisher is fantastic for great Anglo-Saxon culture and food and hospitality. Prime Cut next door is also very good for steaks and cocktails.
My wife and I had been long time fans of Baja Fresh, back when they were only in Calabasas. Then one day we went in and the salsa changed, the chicken burrito tasted like fish, the menu was different. We tried again and no dice. I don’t know what happened but it is not the same place. Now they have tried Contodo and Mesa Grill and still can’t succeed. Just goes to show, don’t mess with a good thing. It would be like In N Out offering Chicken all of a sudden and adding something to their special sauce.
Where are all the Fried Chicken joints?
It seems that the fasted way to make a million dollars in the restaurant business is to start out with five million.
…fastest way…
I shouldn’t type after having 3 cups of highly charged coffee in a row.
Does this mean we’ve reached saturation point with regards to Mexican restaurants?………………..If so, We need more Mexicans!
Bienvenido a los amigos de Orange County!
Taco Bell here I come. Best deal in mexican food
Wish there were more Taco Mesa locations. Good stuff
If all of you read the article correctly, you will realize that the creators of this restaurant were the same as BAJA “FISH” TACOS.. not baja fresh. It must have been an experiment and it didn’t work out. Oh Well… their restaurant on Bristol street near south coast plaza is still full of business and you have to have tried the food in order for you to critic it. Food is good, prices a bit high for all those wanting cheap tacos, but you get what you pay for and QUALITY and SERVICE is what you will RECEIVE AT BAJA FISH TACOS. I recommend the Ensenada or Blackened fish tacos or the Shrimp burrito or Enchiladas Verdes…
heck of the it is, I live down by the Block and would have driven down there if I’d have known it was there. I’ll look up the SCP one and try it sometime..