Operators of Esquimalt’s wildly popular Restaurante La Tortilla Mexicana are set to take over the former Rathskeller Schnitzel House space at View and Quadra streets, Citified has learned.

 

The current location of family-run La Tortilla Mexicana, situated in the 900-block of Esquimalt Road near Head Street, opened in 2014 with a menu offering authentic Mexican cuisine common to Mexico’s Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo and Guerrero regions. The second location will welcome patrons by late spring or early summer following a renovation of the Rathskeller space.

 

"They’ll be a great, great addition to the neighbourhood," says Ross Marshall, Vice President of CBRE Victoria, the commercial real-estate agency that brokered the restaurant's lease. "We actually had a number of competing offers, and after some deliberation we realized that La Tortilla would be the best fit for the space."

 

Marshall confirms La Tortilla's owners are currently working on bringing family members from Ixtapa, Mexico to Victoria in order to assist with the operation of the restaurant and to ensure the food maintains its authenticity at both locations.

 

"Everything at La Tortilla is made from scratch, everything. The food is the real-deal, and to maintain that level of quality family members will be moving here from Mexico to help staff the new restaurant."

 

German food restaurant Rathskeller closed in late 2016 after nearly half a century in business. Restaurant and building owner Andrea Sims sold the property to an out-of-province buyer in mid-2016.

 

Downtown Victoria’s offerings of Mexican and central American-inspired cuisine has flourished in recent years with the opening of several eateries that include an offshoot of Vancouver's La Taqueria Pinche Taco Shop, La Fogata central American food, and the original location of Victoria-based taco chain La Taquisa. C