El Kiosco Express Has Grand Opening

The community gathered Aug. 9 at El Kiosco Express to celebrate its grand opening. This was the second restaurant opening for El Kiosco. The first is in Rialto. The ribbon cutting took place at 5:30 that evening, with Redlands Chamber of Commerce ambassadors and Miss Redlands in attendance. Restaurant owner Erik Morden was excited about the opening in Redlands. Being an alumnus of Redlands High School, he shared that he was glad the second restaurant could open in his town. He stated, “I love the city here and I saw in the papers an opportunity. The space became vacant, and I’ve been looking around and it’s just a perfect place for us here. The city has opened their arms to us.” The restaurant serves a wide variety of fresh Mexican food. One of their signature popular items is their burrito. Morden said, “The taco salad is a close second and they are kind of closing in on the burrito as the most popular thing. We have a wide array of different foods, and as far as meats go, carnitas are the favorite.” El Kiosco Express serves burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, tortas, nachos, enchiladas, cheese fries and quesadillas, to name a few items. Their meats include carne asada, chicken, carnitas, barbacoa, fish and shrimp. They also have a full salad bar. Among the restaurant’s community supporters was Penny Dollins, Miss Redlands. “Anytime we [Golden State Pageants] can come out and support a new business, we’re here,” she said. Redlands Chamber Ambassador Cynthia Lake stated, “I’ve been a Redlands-er for most of my life and seeing new businesses opening here is great. This is a great city that has been through some renovation and I’m thrilled about that and I’m glad to support it.” The community response to the restaurant has been great, as the owner said they are already getting repeat customers. “It’s been three weeks and we already have repeat customers and all the neighborhoods have been coming in quite a bit. It’s only a matter of time for the industry to come here to eat for lunch,” said Morden. For a small express restaurant filled with big flavors, Morden says that everyone should come out to support. “There’s a lot of Chipotles and La Salsas out there but we are a mom-and-pop place. We’ve been around for over 30 years and if you want to have food that’s made from scratch and reasonably priced and made from real ingredients, you can’t beat a little guy like us.”