Nearly a year after closing the restaurant because of staffing concerns, Mad Mex’s original Oakland location is back open.
The Atwood Street restaurant was originally scheduled to only be closed for a only few months, but labor shortages, which began at the beginning of the pandemic, extended the closure a bit longer than anticipated.
Bill Fuller, Big Burrito president and corporate chef, says that it’s been a long process to get the Oakland location back.
“We’ve just been able to add slowly, one person here, one person there, and we finally got to the point where we realized that we could staff Oakland,” he says.
Big Burrito Restaurant Group, which also owns Kaya, Alta Via, Casbah, Eleven, Soba and Umi, has had to alter the opening hours of many of the restaurants in its group during the last two-and-a-half years, with some restaurants cutting back on opening days and lunch service.
“Everything is open now, but not always fully open. We still keep working on always finding one more person to add to our team,” Fuller says. “It’s funny because staffing is so tight, so if we happen to have two people call off in a shift, we may have to close, or shut down a section in a dining room.”
To start, Mad Mex Oakland will be open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Fuller says that he hopes to add more days and opening hours in the coming weeks.
In addition to its standard menu of burritos, tacos and wraps, Mad Mex is also currently serving their popular Gobblerito, a Thanksgiving season specialty made with turkey, black bean mashed potatoes, stuffing, and corn, and topped with gravy. Waffle Fry Poutine, topped with Gobblerito gravy and cheese curds, is also available now.
Mad Mex Oakland will be celebrating its 29th anniversary later this month.
Mad Mex (370 Atwood Street)
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