Manuel's El Burrito in Clearfield marks 50 years in business; operators hope for 50 more

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Manuel's El Burrito, a Clearfield institution, marked 50 years in business on Tuesday.
Mayor Mark Shepherd and others gathered to mark the occasion with Manuel Gallegos Jr. and son Alec, who now run the Mexican restaurant.
The restaurant operators say food quality, customer relations and loyal employees figure in the business's success and longevity.

CLEARFIELD — What started as Manuel Gallegos Sr.'s desire to offer good Mexican food where there was none has, 50 years later, become something of an institution in Clearfield.

Back when it launched in March 1976, Manuel's El Burrito, which started as a small takeout food stand, was something of an anomaly, the only Mexican eatery in the area. Now, as El Burrito marks 50 years in business, it's expanded and become perhaps the longest-lasting Clearfield-based business.

"It's hard to believe we have a business that's been around 50 years, and the following is huge," said Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd.

El Burrito moved to its current location at 1145 S. State Street in 1989, becoming a sit-down restaurant and gradually expanding over the years.

Shepherd and other city officials gathered at El Burrito on Tuesday to formally mark 50 years in business with Manuel Gallegos Jr., Manuel Sr.'s son, and Alec Gallegos, the third generation of the family involved in running the restaurant. Manuel Sr. died in 2016, and his son has been running the restaurant, with Alec, Manuel Sr.'s grandson and Manuel Jr.'s son, prepping to take over.

"To keep it going for the next 50 years is on me," Alec Gallegos said.

There may be many Mexican restaurants in Utah with the growth of the Latino population, but few have the longevity of El Burrito. Red Iguana in Salt Lake City has been around since 1985, though the founders, Ramon Cardenas Sr. and wife Maria, operated another Mexican restaurant under a different name, Casa Grande, from 1965 until Red Iguana's launch. Javier Chavez Sr. launched a Mexican restaurant in Ogden in 1991, Javier's Authentic Mexican Food, and it's since opened several locations in and around the city.

Indeed, Manuel Gallegos said he's seen many Mexican restaurants come and go over the years and jokes that he was "too dumb to quit." He and his father, when alive, held day jobs at times apart from operating El Burrito to keep it afloat during lean times, but now it's a full-time thing for both him and son. Alec Gallegos says the consistency of the food at El Burrito figures in the business's longevity.

The operators of Manuel's El Burrito in Clearfield held a small celebration to mark 50 years in business for the Clearfield Mexican restaurant. Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd holds a memento he gave to operators Manuel Gallegos Jr. and his son Alec to mark the occasion. (Photo: Tim Vandenack, KSL)

"We took Grandma and Grandpa's recipes and made it for the masses," said Alec Gallegos, while adding new things along the way to keep with the times. The restaurant's chile verde, enchiladas and fajitas are popular items along with newer additions like birria tacos and tacos al pastor.

Manuel Gallegos says the personal relationships with restaurant patrons as well as loyal staffers also figure big in El Burrito's success. "I just attribute it to our loyal customers, our loyal employees. We're very personable, we want to know you. We love seeing you, not just because you're doing business with us. ... We build relationships with our customers."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.