Category Archives: Passings
El Mariachi & Revolucion Owner Passes
Chicago lost a great business man recently, Antonio Estrada, founder of El Mariachi and Revolucion restaurants.
1996. On a quiet section of North Broadway in Chicago, Antonio Estrada opened a cozy, 10-table Mexican restaurant he called El Mariachi. It was, he admits, a risk: the area, several blocks from Wrigley Field in East Lakeview, was then a not-so-nice section of the city.
“The neighborhood wasn’t yet gentrified…three years after I opened, they found dead bodies in a nearby hotel!” Estrada once told me.
Mexican food is a staple in most communities today. But back in 1996, the cuisine was in its infancy in the United States—even in a food-savvy town like Chicago. At first, customers didn’t really comprehend what El Mariachi’s concept—fresh, authentic Mexican food that went beyond tacos and burritos—was all about.
Times have certainly changed—and so has the Estrada family’s business, now comprised of three restaurants under the Mariachi Hospitality Group banner.
Anchored by the flagship El Mariachi Restaurant, still in the original small storefront, the enterprise also includes El Mariachi Tequila Bar & Grill and Revolución Mexican Steakhouse—all within a five-block stretch of North Broadway populated by restaurants, bars, boutiques and upscale grocery stores.
A native of San Juan Jalisco, near Guadalajara, Antonio Estrada emigrated to the U.S. in 1969. Then just 15 years old, with no restaurant experience under his belt, he landed a part-time job as a bus boy, and then server, at Chicago’s M&M Club. He moved on to the Hilton Hotel, where he was a member of the dining room staff for 20 years. Then, he decided, it was time to venture out on his own with El Mariachi.
“I had to learn to cook—but that was pretty easy for me,” Antonio recalls. The formula was fairly simple: he made recipes; the ones he liked became part of the menu.
Antonio built a reputation for serving authentic Mexican dishes including but not limited to tacos—offerings like carne asada suiza and grilled chicken breast dressed in mole poblano—all presented in a warm, intimate setting where high-quality ingredients and friendly, personal service proved a formula for success.
That formula is at the heart of all Mariachi Hospitality Group operates today.
His sons Jorge (Tony) and Adrian, who were raised in Lakeview and grew up in the business, are key figures in the family enterprise. “How long have I worked in the restaurants? All my life,” Tony laughs. “I was 11 when I was officially added to the schedule.” – and the brothers have been working in the business ever since!
Antonio Estrada was a hard working man and his businesses have made a great impact in Lakeview. He always made time to spend with his family. He always had a smile on his face whenever I saw him! His favorite quote was, “Success isn’t just about what you accomplish in your life it’s about what you INSPIRE others to do.”
He will be greatly missed.
Thanks to writer Kathleen Furore. Her full article can be seen here.
* When El Maricahi Tequila Bar & Restaurant opened in 2004, the painters put an image of Antonio in the ceiling, by the bar, shining down thru the clouds. Next time you stop by, have a Margarita and Salute this awesome man!
Scott Barnes Passing September 9th, 2017
Scott Barnes died Sept. 9 of a heart attack at the Out at the Park Six Flags Great America event in the Chicago suburbs.
He was 50. He is survived by his former partner, Jay Howard Cook and Brian Loomis, his current companion. Barnes’ memorial service will take place at the Geisen-Carlisle Funeral & Cremation Services 613 Washington St. Michigan City, Indiana, with the viewing on Friday, Sept. 15 in the afternoon and evening, and the funeral on Saturday, Sept. 16. For those who cannot travel to Indiana a memorial service will be held at Barnes’ favorite local bar Elixer sometime next week. There will also be a showing of his work at The SoFo Tap, 4923 N. Clark St. Details TBA. Read full Obituary HERE.
September 20th – Memorial for Scott, who passed away this year at Out in the Park…https://www.facebook.com/events/1033964130078572
Chuck Renslow Final White Party August27
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Chicago’s Chuck Renslow Passed, 87
Pioneering Chicago Gay Activist and Leather Community Leader Chuck Renslow Passes Away At 87
It’s with a sad heart that we must report that Chuck Renslow, the pioneering gay activist who opened the first gay leather bar in the country, the Gold Coast in 1958, has passed away at the age of 87.
Mr. Renslow was the founder and photographer of Kris Studios, one of the earliest and most durable of the physique houses ( and one where leather always had a place ) He was the publisher of Triumph, Mars and Rawhide Male magazines. He was a founder of Second City Motorcycle Club, the first club in the midwest in 1965.
He was among the earliest members, often among the founders, of many gay liberation organizations and movements. He was the publisher of GayLife Newspaper and has sat on the Board of fourteen different GLBT organizations. He was also the founder of many gay bars and sex clubs including Man’s Country, which has survived for more than 30 years.
He is the founder, in of the International Mr. Leather, which meets yearly in Chicago and was inducted into Chicago’s Lesbian and Gay Hall of Fame in 1991.
At the Leather Archives & Museum’s September 2016 Board of Directors meeting Chuck was elected “Chairperson of the Board” of the world famous museum that he himself founded.
Specific details of his passing have not been released as of yet.
