Two Pesos

Last updated
Two Pesos
Restaurant information
Established1982
Closed1993
City Houston
State Texas
CountryU.S.

Two Pesos was a Tex-Mex restaurant chain in the U.S. state of Texas that opened in 1982 in Houston. It was similar to Taco Cabana but Two Pesos never opened in Taco Cabana's home market of San Antonio. The Two Pesos chain was sold to Taco Cabana in 1993 after losing a drawn-out trade dress suit that appeared before the United States Supreme Court.

History

Two Pesos was started in 1985 by Houston restaurateur Marno McDermot, who had been in negotiations with Taco Cabana's management to take the patio-restaurant chain nationwide. When Taco Cabana's founding Stehling brothers rejected his advances, McDermot decided to open up his own chain of similarly themed patio-dining Tex-Mex restaurants under the Two Pesos name. When Taco Cabana entered the Houston market, they sued Two Pesos for stealing their business concepts and "trade dress." After many appeals, the case went to the Supreme Court, which in 1992 ruled in Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc. in favor of Taco Cabana. [1] The Two Pesos owners sold to Taco Cabana the following year rather than making the changes required by the judgment. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tex-Mex</span> Cuisine in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico

Tex-Mex cuisine is a regional American cuisine that originates from the culinary creations of Tejano people. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United States to the rest of the country. It is a subtype of Southwestern cuisine found in the American Southwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ninfa's</span> Mexican restaurant in Houston, Texas

The Original Ninfa's on Navigation is a popular Mexican restaurant located at 2704 Navigation Boulevard in Houston, Texas. The restaurant serves both Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine. The Original Ninfa's was started by Ninfa Rodríguez Laurenzo, a Mexican-American woman, in a tortilla factory. Ninfa Laurenzo became a full-time restaurateur and the tortilla factory closed. Mama Ninfa is widely credited with popularizing the fajita among Houstonians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevys Fresh Mex</span> American restaurant chain

Chevys Fresh Mex is an American chain of Mexican-style casual dining restaurants located in the United States. The chain was founded in 1986 by Warren Simmons in Alameda, California. The chain's headquarters are currently located in Cypress, California. The chain is owned by Xperience Restaurant Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taco Cabana</span> American fast casual restaurant chain

Taco Cabana is an American fast casual restaurant chain that serves Tex-Mex cuisine. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTC Enterprises LLC, and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Taco Cabana is recognized for its "pink" color scheme and semi-enclosed patio dining areas. Many menu items are handmade daily on-site, in open-display cooking areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taco Bueno</span> U.S.-based fast-food restaurant chain

Taco Management LLC, doing business as Taco Bueno, is a U.S.-based, quick service restaurant chain specializing in Tex-Mex-style cuisine. The company is headquartered in Farmers Branch, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Its first location opened in Abilene, Texas in 1967. The food chain has locations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Pablo's</span> American Tex-Mex restaurant chain

Don Pablo's was an American chain of Tex-Mex restaurants founded in Lubbock, Texas, in 1985. The menu featured Tex-Mex items, made-from-scratch salsa, tortillas and sauces, and a range of other Mexican specialties. At one time, this chain had as many as 120 locations throughout the United States and was the second largest full-service Mexican restaurant chain within the United States during the late 1990s, second only to Chi-Chi's. The chain had 34 restaurants in 14 states when it was acquired in 2014 by Food Management Partners. By October 2016, the chain was reduced to 12 restaurants in 9 states, 6 restaurants in 4 states by July 2018, 5 restaurants in 3 states by September 2018, and later 3 restaurants in 3 states by November 2018. The remaining restaurants in the struggling chain gradually and quietly closed over the next seven months until the last restaurant in Deptford Township, New Jersey, finally closed on June 23, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chi-Chi's</span> Mexican restaurant chain

Chi-Chi's can either refer to a defunct Mexican food restaurant chain founded in the United States in 1976, which continued in Europe only as a single restaurant after the North American owner declared bankruptcy and folded in 2004, or to its namesake brand of Mexican food grocery products produced and marketed when the original North American restaurant chain owner sold the rights to use its name on said products in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Chico (restaurant)</span>

El Chico is a restaurant chain in the Southern United States. The first restaurant opened in 1940 in Oak Lawn, in Dallas, Texas. There are 16 locations. The restaurant serves a variety of Tex-Mex dishes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noodles & Company</span> Colorado-based fast-casual restaurant chain featuring noodle dishes

Noodles & Company is an American fast-casual restaurant that offers international and American noodle dishes in addition to soups and salads. Noodles & Company was founded in 1995 by Aaron Kennedy and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company went public in 2013 and recorded a $457 million revenue in 2017. In mid-2022, there were 458 Noodles & Company locations across 31 states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rubio's Coastal Grill</span> Mexican-American fast casual restaurant chain

Rubio's Coastal Grill, formerly known as Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill and Rubio's Baja Grill, is an American fast casual "Fresh Mex" or "New Mex" restaurant chain specializing in Mexican food, with an emphasis on fish tacos. As of 2013, Rubio's operates, licenses, or franchises more than 200 restaurants in Arizona, California, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. It is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pancho's Mexican Buffet</span> American restaurant chain

Pancho's Mexican Buffet is a chain of Tex-Mex restaurants in the United States. In 2017, the owners began closing stores due to poor performance, and developed a small store concept named "Cuban Cafe". There are currently 2 locations in the Houston area and three locations in the DFW area.

Kahala Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada-based MTY Food Group Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kahala is one of North America's largest holding company of franchise fast food restaurant companies. In May 2016, the publicly traded Canadian MTY Food Group announced a friendly takeover deal with the Kahala Brands. MTY agreed to pay about US$300 million to acquire Kahala. The two companies generated nearly $2 billion in revenues in the previous year. Jeff Smit was chosen to lead the US operations of MTY.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ninfa Laurenzo</span> Texas restaurateur

Maria Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo, born with the family name Rodriguez, was an American restaurateur from Houston, Texas, who founded the restaurant Ninfa's. Laurenzo started out running a single taco stand in Houston, Texas.

Maggie Rita's Tex-Mex Grill & Bar is a Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston. For several years, Maggie Rita's was a restaurant chain with a license co-owned by Carlos Mencia and Santiago Moreno of Suave Restaurant. In January 2013, Moreno closed the last two locations they owned. Tony Shannard owns the only remaining Maggie Rita's restaurant, which is situated in Houston's JPMorgan Chase Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molina's Cantina</span> Restaurant chain in Houston, Texas

Molina's Cantina is a Tex-Mex restaurant chain in Houston, Texas. As of 2022, Molina's is the oldest still-operating Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston.

Felix Louis Stehling, Jr. was an American businessman and restaurateur. Stehling and his brother Mike Stehling co-founded Taco Cabana, a fast food restaurant chain specializing in Tex-Mex cuisine, in 1978. Stehling is credited as the inventor of the beanburger, a now common dish in the San Antonio area, consisting of refried beans, Fritos and Cheez Whiz.

Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc., 505 U.S. 763 (1992), was a United States Supreme Court case where the Court held that Two Pesos, Inc. infringed upon the trademark of Taco Cabana, Inc. by copying the design of their restaurants. Writing for a majority of the court, Justice Byron White concluded that trade dress is inherently distinctive under the Lanham Act and that plaintiffs are not required to prove secondary meaning in suits to protect their trademark. The Court upheld an award of $3.7 million in damages, and Taco Cabana ultimately acquired all of Two Pesos' assets in 1993 for $22 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican-American cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Mexican Americans

Mexican-American cuisine is the cuisine of Mexican Americans and their descendants, who have modified Mexican cuisine under the influence of American culture and immigration patterns of Mexicans to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nacho Borracho</span> Bar and restaurant in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Nacho Borracho is a bar and Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurant in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington.

References

  1. Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc., 505 U.S. 763 (1992)
  2. Woodard, Tracey Taylor (1989-01-23). "Judge details changes in Two Pesos concept". Nation's Restaurant News. 23 (4). ISSN   0028-0518. Gale Document Number A6996322. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
  3. Ruggless, Ron (1993-01-25). "Taco Cabana buys rival Two Pesos". Nation's Restaurant News. 27 (4). ISSN   0028-0518. Gale Document Number A13396297. Archived from the original on 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2015-01-07.