Keizer has a restaurant mystery.
A Washington state company on Monday got approval from the Keizer City Council for a liquor license for a restaurant at Keizer Station.
But no one at Pearl West Restaurant Group, based in Vancouver, will talk about plans for a new Margarita Factory.
The city paperwork lists the address for the new restaurant as 6045 Keizer Station Boulevard.
But that’s the location of BRIX Tavern, part of another corporate chain of restaurants.
Urban Restaurant Group of Portland owns BRIX Tavern in Keizer. In June 2023, it opened in what had been the Bargarten Bavarian Social Haus.
“BRIX Tavern Keizer is excited to be the newest addition to Keizer Station,” the company said in its announcement at the time. The company also has BRIX Tavern outlets in Portland’s Pearl District and in Tualatin.
Company officials wouldn’t address questions about the Margarita Factory’s liquor application or its plans for Keizer.
“We do not have any agreed upon deal with” Margarita Factory, according to an email from Ken Liebl, chief financial officer for the Urban Restaurant Group. “Should we decide to sell Brix in Keizer we will reach out to you.”
Pearl West operates eight other Margarita Factory restaurants, including four in Washington state and four in Oregon – in Gresham, Happy Valley, Beaverton and Tigard. The company operates restaurants under three other brands as well.
State records show the formation in early February of Margarita Factory Keizer LLC, listing the Keizer Station address as its “principal” location. The manager is identified in state records as Jorge Castro, who is president of president of Pearl West.
Messages seeking comment from Castro, Pearl West and the Lake Oswego attorney handling the liquor license application produced no response.
According to the company’s website, “The Pearl West Restaurant Group was born out of humble beginnings in the deep-rooted culture of Guadalajara, Mexico. Jorge and Betty Cantu, brother and sister, are descended from a long line of restaurateurs going back to their grandparents in Jalisco, Mexico.”
Margarita Factory says on its website that it provides “margaritas that are unquestionably the best in town” and serves “handcrafted Mexican dishes.”
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