It’s out with the old and in the new at 1101 Wabash Ave., with Moroleon Tropical
Mexican Restaurant recently closing and Puerto Vallarta, also a Mexican restaurant,
gearing up to take its place.
Ana Rodriguez and Bruno Chavez, the husband-and-wife team who also own the
Rancho Chico restaurant on East Stanford Avenue in southeast Springfield, are
planning to open Puerto Vallarta sometime in April.
“We thought it was a good location, so we decided to expand,” Rodriguez said. Puerto
Vallarta’s menu will include classic Mexican dishes such as enchiladas, flautas and
burritos, as well as seafood offerings. The drink menu will include options such as
margaritas, pina coladas and mojitos.
Rodriguez said the menu will be different than that at Rancho Chico.
“We’re going to have some different recipes,” she said.
Rodriguez and Chavez currently are completing some renovations in the Wabash
building, and Rodriguez said they plan to do further updates once they are up and
running. Puerto Vallarta will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday
and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The couple owns Rancho Chico along with Rodriguez’s father, Raul Rodriguez, who
also operates a Rancho Chico location in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Raul Rodriguez, who his
daughter said is in the process of retiring, will not hold a stake in Puerto Vallarta.
Ana Rodriguez was a manager at the Cedar Falls restaurant before coming to
Springfield to open the local Rancho Chico and has years of experience in the
restaurant industry.
“I’ve been working for my dad pretty much all my life,” she said.
She and her husband opened the Springfield Rancho Chico two years ago.
“We really liked Springfield, and the community has been so good to us,” Rodriguez
said. “We’re very happy.”
Salvador Lopez opened Moroleon Tropical on Wabash Avenue in 2019. The restaurant closed in
December. Prior to that, the building was home to Hunan for many years before the Asian restaurant relocated to a new shopping center further west on Wabash Avenue.