Nine ambulances raced to the Mexican restaurant that last Sunday in August after three dozen diners got sick from eating poisoned salsa.
And so Rulber De La Torre’s nightmare began.
At the time, authorities didn’t know that a highly toxic bug killer was to blame for the mass illness at Mi Ranchito near 95th Street and Interstate 35 in Lenexa. Nor would they learn until later that sabotage was at issue.
After two former Mi Ranchito employees were charged last week with food tampering, one key element of the story remains in doubt.
Can De La Torre’s once successful business survive all the horrible publicity?
“I’ve got to get my business back,” he told me. “This is just not fair. I want just one more chance from my customers.”
His is a genuine American success story. It began in 2004 when De La Torre, the youngest of 12 brothers and sisters, opened the first of what is now a chain of six Mi Ranchito restaurants in the metro area.
He’d just turned 30. Fifteen years had passed since he emigrated from Mexico on a path that would make him an American citizen.
Eight years elapsed since his first failed attempt at running his own business.
In the interim, he’d worked his tail off in the kitchen of one of those big national chain restaurants that serve up the kind of Tex-Mex food devised in corporate test kitchens. With the skills he learned in restaurants in Mexico, he tried to make it better.
“I was the lowest-paid chef in Kansas City before I started my business,” he said. “I worked 80 to 100 hours a week.”
He worked even harder building Mi Ranchito. With a home equity loan and some financial help from two brothers, he opened the first restaurant in Olathe in 2004. The five others soon followed, operated in part by members of his extended family.
The six Mi Ranchitos were always packed. Every time my wife and I visited the one in Lenexa, we had to wait for a table.
Then came the nightmare. Twelve patrons took sick Aug. 11. Five went to the hospital. Suspicion centered on carbonated water lines in the drink dispenser. The restaurant reopened the next day.
“We didn’t know it was poison that first time,” De La Torre said.
But on Aug. 30, when three dozen patrons began vomiting, cramping and feeling chest pains, the focus changed. Especially after one of De La Torre’s nieces told the media that tainted salsa was to blame.
Yini De La Torre, 19, and her husband, Arnoldo Bazan, 30, now face federal food tampering charges. According to prosecutors, Bazan had a grudge against Rulber De La Torre and the couple set out to cause him financial harm.
If that was the plan, it worked. For most of September, the Lenexa restaurant was shut down. It and the five other restaurants have seen a big drop in business. De La Torre had to lay off nearly 100 of his 350 employees.
But with last week’s arrests, customers are beginning to come back.
“This has been our best week so far,” he said.
He’s doing everything he can to boost confidence. He’s installing security cameras. He and his insurance company are paying the medical bills of those sickened by the tainted salsa. He’s offering discounts on drinks and food.
“Whatever I can do to get my customers back, I’ll do.”
To reach Mike Hendricks, call 816-234-7708 or send e-mail to mhendricks@kcstar.com.
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