JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A national fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant chain has abruptly closed four of its longtime Jacksonville locations.
Known for its brand tagline of "Tex-Mex for all," Tijuana Flats shuttered restaurants at 5635 San Jose Blvd. in Lakewood, 11700 San Jose Blvd. Unit 24 in Mandarin, 13820 Old St. Augustine Road in Bartram Park and 5907 Roosevelt Blvd. in Ortega Village.
The Maitland-based restaurant chain is known for its made-to-order menu of burritos, tacos, chimichangas, quesadillas, nachos and hot sauce bar.
A handmade sign announcing the closure was taped Sunday to the front door of the Lakewood restaurant. Telephone calls to all four locations were met with a recorded message stating that "unfortunately" the restaurant is now closed and referred callers to Tijuana Flats' other restaurants.
Listings for the restaurants have been removed from the Tijuana Flats website. In addition, their Facebook pages say the locations are "permanently closed."
All four were corporate-owned restaurants, state corporation and restaurant licensing records show.
Tijuana Flats officials couldn't be reached for comment immediately.
The Bartram Park restaurant opened in 2011, Mandarin in 2017, and Ortega Village and Lakewood in 2018, according to news media reports and the restaurants' social media posts.
The four closures represent nearly a third of Tijuana Flats' 11 locations in the Jacksonville area.
Remaining open in Jacksonville are Tijuana Flats restaurants at 651 Nautica Drive Suite 2 at River City Marketplace, 2025 Riverside Ave. No. 4 in Five Points, 9942 Old Baymeadows Road in Baymeadows, and 13529 Beach Blvd. Suite 201-B at Hodges Station, the company's website shows.
Also open are restaurants at 1647 Country Road 220 Suite 103 on Fleming Island, 41 Settlement Drive Suite 501 in Ponte Vedra Beach and 833 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd. Unit 3 in St. Augustine, according to the website.
Earlier this month, another Tex-Mex favorite, Burrito Gallery, closed its original restaurant at 21 E. Adams St. in downtown Jacksonville after 18 years. The Adams Street restaurant's closure came roughly three months after Burrito Gallery closed its restaurant in Jacksonville Beach at 300 Beach Blvd., No. 1.
The closing of Tijuana Flats' area corporate restaurants follows the closings of three Bojangles restaurants last June: 4463 Deerwood Lake Parkway and 13559 Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville aand 492 Blanding Blvd. in Orange Park; and two Burger King restaurants in October: 210 E. State St. and 1981 Kings Road.
Tijuana Flats, founded in 1995 in Winter Park lists 130 locations in six states on its website.