Acapulco pauses Glendale shutdown (only 2 California locations open for now)

Acapulco Restaurant and Cantina has put its planned Glendale closure on hold after a wave of customer support, telling guests it would remain open “until further notice” after first announcing the site would close on May 10.

The reversal came after the Glendale outpost at 722 N. Pacific Ave. became the center of a local campaign to save the 57-year-old restaurant from a demolition plan tied to a proposed car wash redevelopment.

The pause matters because Acapulco’s California footprint has already been reduced to a sliver of what it once was.

The chain’s current location pages show just Glendale and Long Beach, while Orange County Business Journal reported in April that Xperience Restaurant Group permanently closed the Downey unit, affecting 49 employees, and said the company was down to two Acapulco restaurants in its portfolio.

Long Beach’s active page lists 6270 Pacific Coast Hwy as the other operating outpost.

The brand dates to 1960, when the first Acapulco opened in Pasadena, and its website still describes the concept as serving up an “everyday escape since 1960.”

Delish reported that the chain once operated nearly 40 locations before recession-era setbacks and ownership changes pushed it into a long decline, with Xperience Restaurant Group taking control in 2018.

The Glendale restaurant has also been caught in a redevelopment fight.

Reporting cited a conditional city approval in March for a two-story self-service car wash on the property, including a 5,878-square-foot building, vacuum bays and a traffic-control kiosk, which helped fuel petitions and preservation appeals from regular customers and nearby residents.

That is the pressure point now hanging over the restaurant, even as the company tries to keep the dining room operating in the near term.

For now, the practical reality is simple. Glendale is still open, Long Beach is still open, and Acapulco has bought time to see whether the reprieve turns into a lease deal or only delays the end of another Southern California landmark.

If Glendale ultimately goes dark, Long Beach would become the brand’s last surviving foothold in the region.