Tex-Mex restaurant El Corral is now cooking at 809 Pine Tree Road, where Jocelyn’s Mexican Grill was located before moving to Wal Street. The building was also once the longtime home of Mexican restaurant Lupe.
Alondra Valencia and Jose Martinez have owned the restaurant, also located in Buffalo, since 2013.
Lunch specials are served daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., including street tacos, fajitas, fried avocado with chicken, or beef fajita; Papa Nachos made with potato wedges and beef or chicken fajita meat; and a number of other menu options.
Enchilada specialties include traditional enchiladas, as well as shrimp enchiladas, spinach enchiladas, Anaheim enchiladas and more. A variety of fajita options are also available.
Working hours are from Sunday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and from Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Dutch Bros. procedure
Dutch Bros. Coffee expects to open its two facilities in Longview this spring.
The former Liberty Baptist Church at 1500 W. Loop 281 has been torn down to make way for one of the locations at 1500 W. Loop 281. Site work is underway there.
Another location of Dutch Bros. is planned for 301 E. Loop 281, next to the Murphy gas station on Airline Road. Dutch Bros. says he hopes to begin construction on both locations soon. Dutch Bros. it does not offer indoor or outdoor seating, but usually has a drive-through service window and drive-thru window.
Braum’s owns land there at 1500 W. Loop 281 and two other locations in Longview, but the company previously said it no longer plans to locate a restaurant on the Loop 281 land. However, a collision repair shop is slated to be located there.
Caliber Collision crosses the barrier
Longview’s divided Planning and Zoning Commission has given initial approval to a zoning change that would allow a collision repair business to be built at 1500 W. Loop 281, on a portion of land that formerly housed Liberty Baptist Church.
Lewisville-based Caliber operates three types of auto-related businesses — Caliber Collision, Caliber Auto Care and Caliber Auto Glass. Longview Caliber Collision would consist of a single-story building of about 16,000 square feet, according to information presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission this month.
The approximately 4.5 acres it will sit on is zoned general retail and single-family, and Caliber is seeking rezoning to a large commercial district. The land extends to Tiffany Lane in the Wildwood subdivision, and the store will not have access to the neighborhood from Liberty Lane.
“Caliber Collision is proposing to use the site for major auto repair, which requires C-2 zoning,” city information said. “Loop 281 is a TXDOT road and is classified as a major artery. Major arteries are designed to provide a high degree of mobility, serve a relatively high volume of traffic, have high operating speeds, and serve a significant portion of trips. Commercial uses are appropriate for this area, as long as followed by access management.”
Residents in the area expressed concern about how the lighting and potential noise from the store would affect the neighborhood.
In a 4-2 vote, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the zoning change with the following provisions recommended by city staff: an 8-foot solid wood fence along zoned residential property; a 75-foot easement on which no buildings, parking or lighting will be permitted and where as many trees as possible are preserved; a 50-foot natural buffer/greenbelt easement within this 75-foot easement; and no access will be permitted from Liberty Lane.
The rezoning request will be considered by the Longview City Council next month.