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Above is an exterior view of the new El Torito III expected to open in 2012. Leslie Collins

 

By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
December 14, 2011

Three years after opening his Northeast business, Leobardo Gonzales is ready to expand.

Carniceria El Torito #3, 6126 Independence Ave., currently offers fresh produce, meats by the cut and a Mexican restaurant. But the store’s popularity has grown and feels cramped when customers shop, Gonzales said through an interpreter, Dan Islas.

“They don’t fit in the store anymore,” Islas said of the customers.

That’s when Gonzales began to envision a larger space and signed a 10-year contract to lease the building next door, 6200 Independence Ave.

Once an auction car dealership, the building has been transformed into a grocery store setting complete with three check-out lines and a creamy stucco exterior. The gravel parking lot is now paved with enough spots for 50 cars and automatic sliding front doors will soon swoosh open to greet customers.

Contractors began remodeling the building at the end of July and Gonzales said he hopes to open the store, El Torito III, by the beginning of 2012.

Now, with 5,000 square feet of store space, Gonzales plans to expand his line of Hispanic products and also delve into Central American products like yucca and sweet cream.

With a commercial kitchen at the back of the store, Gonzales will now offer fresh guacamole and homemade salsa and pico de gallo. Carnitas will also be available and meats by the cut will still be offered. Meats include pork, beef, lamb, goat, chicken, seafood and even cow tongue. Each tongue weighs about five pounds and he sells an average of 100 tongues per week.

His best seller is the homemade chorizo.

Other products will include Mexican pasta, tortillas, fresh produce, sweet bread and other desserts, among others.

Gonzales said his goal is to offer whatever products the community needs and to offer the best fresh produce and meat.

Asked what he’ll do with his smaller store, Gonzales said he will remodel the store and operate it as a restaurant only. Between the two stores, approximately 10 to 15 new jobs will be created, he said.