Monterey's

Monterey's (Formerly Monterey House, now Monterey's Little Mexico) was a Mexican restaurant company founded in 1955 and later purchased by ShowBiz Pizza Place in 1987, being sold off after 7 years of declining sales in 1994- though still operating independently to the present.

History

Monterey's was a Mexican restaurant company founded in Houston, TX in 1955.

ShowBiz Purchase

In early August of 1987, ShowBiz Pizza Place would acquire Monterey's for $10.5 million during Monterey's bankruptcy. The chain at the time had 51 restaurants in Texas and 7 in Tulsa, OK.
By 1989 ShowBiz would begin rebranding Monterey House locations to 'Monterey's Tex-Mex Cafe', changing up the menu into a more 'upscale dining experience'. The chain would continue to remain unprofitable, and by May two of the locations had closed. ShowBiz would later state that its October lineup was at 52.
By February of 1990 the location count would drastically go down 26, and being exclusively referred to by the new Tex-Mex branding. By June it would be down to 20.

ShowBiz Sell

ShowBiz would begin to sell the company off by November of 1993, despite the location count rising back up to 28. Plans would be to sell to the River Associates corporation under a separate company. The deal would be set to close by January 31st of 1994.
The company now goes under the name Monterey's Little Mexico, and is owned and operated by Mexican Restaurants, Inc. among 5 other restaurant brands.