PORTLAND, Ore. — Mexican eatery Tamale Boy is moving its headquarters out of Portland and to Tigard after a tough year of break-ins and little help from the city, owner Jaime Soltero Jr. said.
“It’s just a constant battle of when are we going to get broken into next, that on top of employees having a hard time dealing with even finding people that want to work in this industry again, it's just taken a toll,” Soltero said.
“I was optimistic last year because it was like, this is all going to work out, weeding out the bad, I can grow. But after last year dealing with what happened with employment, I really just don't want to do anymore.”
The restaurant’s headquartered at 668 N. Russell St., with another location in Portland at 1764 N.E. Dekum St. and one in Happy Valley at 12960 S.E. 162nd Ave.
While the surrounding neighborhood has supported Tamale Boy, and Soltero plans to keep the Dekum location open, he said he believes the future of his restaurant lies in the suburbs rather than Portland.
“I called Tigard and everybody there has been so helpful in getting me to the right person to talk to and getting back to me in a timely manner," he said, in contrast to his experiences with Portland officials.
Soltero started his business out of a food truck in 2010 before opening the Russell location as its first brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Read more at the Portland Business Journal.