ENGLEWOOD, Fla — After being closed for a month for renovations, Nando’s Taqueria in Englewood reopened on Friday, August 23. Less than two days later, the restaurant was forced to close again after a burglar broke in.
Nando Pina and Erika Nunez have owned and operated Nando’s Taqueria food truck since 2012. The pair have sold authentic Mexican food from the truck at the same location at 2640 S McCall Rd since 2013.
Last month the pair began moving the food truck indoors, converting the business to a brick and mortar restaurant which opened on Friday.
Watch Fox 4's Charlotte County Community Correspondent Alex Orenczuk's report on Nando's Taqueria:
“It's been a long journey for these walls to come up and see this dream finally come true,” said Nunez. “We’re definitely living the American dream as we tell our kids.”
Shortly after opening, a burglar put a halt to the restaurants momentum.
“We were open on Friday and we were celebrating and cheering that we were operating again,” said Nunez. “We closed on Saturday night and we took a very well deserved day off on Sunday, then we came in on Monday morning and noticed everything was stirred up.”
Nunez said a burglar had broken in through the front door and stolen cash from the register, important documents from their safe and damaged the building and the food truck itself.
“It was sad, we were definitely heartbroken,” said Nunez.
The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office began investigating, and the restaurant was closed in the meantime.
When Nando’s Taqueria posted the incident on its facebook page the Englewood community rallied around the restaurant with support. The restaurant reopened Monday evening.
“Facebook told me that something happened, that they got robbed, and I have to support the local business,” a customer at the restaurant told FOX 4. “And I love tacos.”
Nunez told FOX 4 that she hopes the burglar will be caught, and the experience has just been a bump in the road for Nando’s Taqueria.
“It's just another set back, we gotta keep going, we can’t lose track of what we need to accomplish,” said Nunez.
