'With heavy hearts': Popular Murray Hill Tex-Mex restaurant closes abruptly after 6 years
A popular Tex-Mex restaurant known for its San Antonio-style puffy tacos and other Southern border staples closed abruptly over the weekend after six years in Murray Hill.
Chef Scott Schwartz opened El Jefe Tex-Mex in the summer of 2018 at 947 Edgewood Ave. S. following nearly a year of renovations transforming the 4,016-square-foot storefront formerly used by the Curry Thomas hardware store into a rustic taqueria-like restaurant.
Describing itself as an "authentic and casual Tex-Mex concept," El Jefe specialized in puffy tacos — a homemade tortilla fried in hot oil until it forms air pockets that become crunchy when cooled. Puffy tacos are best known in San Antonio, where Schwartz discovered them during a 1977 family visit.
Filled with adobo braised chicken or picadillo then garnished with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, El Jefe Tex-Mex puffy tacos were among customer favorites.
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Other featured tacos included slow-smoked brisket, grilled Ahi tuna, carne asada, carnitas and grilled shrimp. El Jefe also offered Tex-Mex classics such as enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, nachos, burritos and Texas bowls.
Schwartz, a partner in the restaurant, announced its planned closure and thanked customers Friday night via social media and in a news release.
“It is with heavy hearts that we make this announcement. We would like to thank the wonderful community of Murray Hill and all of our customers for their support,” he said in the news release.
Schwartz, who also noted "all good things come to an end," couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
Longtime customers reacted with dismay while also pledging to dine at the restaurant in its waning hours.
"I'm just devastated. I was there once or twice a week. … I've gotten to know all the staff there and I just feel horrible for them," Leigh Ann Rassler told the Times-Union on Saturday. "I'm sad because that is my favorite place to go."
Rassler noted she was at the restaurant most recently last Tuesday and there was no indication of the impending closure.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, El Jefe fed nurses working at the state's COVID testing center.
"I just wish there was something the community could do to help keep them here," said Rassler, a Murray Hill resident.
El Jefe, which garnered multiple local awards over the years, is the second major Murray Hill restaurant to close within four months.
Vagabond Coffee, at 934 Edgewood Ave. S., shut the doors of its cafe on Dec. 22 after nine years. Its roastery, however, remains open across the street, at 927 Edgewood Ave. S.
Other recent Tex-Mex restaurant closures include Burrito Gallery locations downtown and in Jacksonville Beach and five Tijuana Flats locations throughout Jacksonville.
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Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: El Jeffe Tex-Mex restaurant in Jacksonville's Murray Hill closes
