Tony Shannard owns the only remaining Maggie Rita's restaurant, which is situated in Houston's JPMorgan Chase Tower.
Mencia partnered with Moreno,[2] who along with David Quintanilla, was one of the two principals of the Restaurant Resource Management Group, to open Maggie Rita's.
T.J. Aulds of the Galveston County Daily News characterized the opening as a "test run" and Mencia said that "We learned a lot from that experience.
Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal called the restaurant "a new upscale Mexican food concept.
Laura Elder of The Galveston County Daily News said "some saw it as a strong sign of Hurricane Ike recovery and welcome investment in the island’s downtown.
"[8] Shilcutt further added that the takeover caused an "uproar" in Houston and that "to many longtime Houstonians (me [sic] included), the deal with interloper Maggie Rita's may as well have been a pact with the devil.
[1] Moreno added that "consumer decisions are made by women" and he concluded that "what makes a woman decide where to eat Mexican food [ . . .
"[1] Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press criticized Moreno's statements, arguing that by "catering to the lowest common denominator", the chain is allowing the food quality to suffer, and furthermore by "underestimating a market like Houston, which is saturated with excellent Tex-Mex restaurants, and [ which contains ] a consumer base possessed of a smart, experienced palate that will only suffer through a bowl of garlic-and-tomato salsa once, never to return again", the chain's restaurants would not succeed in the Greater Houston area.
"[9] Commenting on the opening of the Galveston location in 2010, Laura Elder of The Galveston County Daily News said that while she "visited only once when the restaurant still was working out the kinks" she felt "I thought the food was ok" and "I’ve had better, especially on the island, where the Tex-Mex trade is pretty competitive and some local families are very good at what they do.
She added that "What sort of put me off about Maggie Rita’s was that they served the food on disposable plates" since those are often used at barbecues and picnics but not at fine restaurants.