Less than two weeks ago, the Cypress location of the popular Tex-Mex restaurant, Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen, went cashless after being burglarized multiple times within the last year.
On Saturday, the Gringo’s off I-45 in Spring was also broken into. Now, the company says they are making changes at that location as well.
The company confirmed that starting on Monday, March 13, the Spring location will also be cashless.
Similar to the break-in they had at their Cypress location at the end of February, in the surveillance video of the incident early Saturday, you can see the burglar break through the glass and head straight for the safe.
Within seconds of him entering the building, you can see sparks flying as he cuts through the safe. From the time he broke through the window until he was climbing back out, it took only around 3 minutes.
The restaurant has cameras, an alarm system, and other security measures, which makes it all the more frustrating.
Russell Ybarra, Gringo’s President, and CEO, tweeted about the latest burglary.
Hit again. Different location, same M.O. pic.twitter.com/29A9OKQgIM
— Russell Ybarra (@russellybarra) March 11, 2023
He followed up with another tweet that read, expressing his frustration:
Seriously, why not commit burglary, especially when you know that if you get caught you’ll be out of jail in no time to do it all over again. pic.twitter.com/5AJaTutboc
— Russell Ybarra (@russellybarra) March 11, 2023
Reporters spoke with the restaurants’ chief marketing officer late last month after the Cypress incident.
“We’re not taking it lightly. ‘We’ve had enough, and we’re now calling the shots,’ is what we’re saying. We’re a community restaurant. We’re here to serve our patrons, and at this point, we’re not an ATM,” Heather McKeon said.