La Bamba Mexican Restaurant

La Bamba West, Inc., doing business as La Bamba Mexican Restaurant and La Bamba Burritos,[1][2] is a fast casual restaurant chain that was started in 1987 and is based in Champaign, Illinois. Their locations remain open late at night, serving Tex-Mex cuisine under the slogan "burritos as big as your head". The restaurants are located predominantly in college communities within the American Midwest.[3]

La Bamba West, Inc.
  • La Bamba Mexican Restaurant
  • La Bamba Burritos
TypePrivate
IndustryRestaurant
Founded1987 (1987) in Champaign, Illinois, US
FoundersRamiro Aguas
Antonio Aguas
Headquarters
Champaign, Illinois
,
US
Number of locations
8 (2019)
Area served
ProductsTex Mex cuisine
OwnersAguas family
Websitelabambaburritos.com

Description

La Bamba Mexican Restaurant is a Mexican fast casual restaurant chain that was started in the Illinois city of Champaign in 1987.[4] They are known for their slogan "burritos as big as your head",[4][5][6] its hot sauce,[7] and for being open late.[3][8][9][10][11][12][7][13] While all serve Tex-Mex cuisine,[14] some have expanded menus.[15] Their restaurants often have artwork depicting athletes with burritos for heads.[7][16][17]

History

In 1987, brothers Ramiro and Antonio Aguas opened the first La Bamba restaurant near the main campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[18][4][11] Named for the song of the same name,[3] it expanded into a franchise family-owned by La Bamba Mexican Restaurants Group,[12][19] which had at least 27 locations[4][20] in the central states with plans of possible expansion into Georgia, Tennessee, and Minnesota in 1997.[3] As of March 2019, there were 8 locations in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.[9]

Antonio was abducted at gunpoint outside his Champaign business and held for ransom for several days after being transported across the state border in 2006. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Portland, Indiana law enforcement efforts led to the safe return of Antonio and the arrest of two suspects.[4]

La Bamba Mexican Restaurants Group was named in 2007 lawsuits by the Ohio Attorney General against Citibank and Campus Dimensions Inc.[21][22] Advertisements offered free burritos to students without mentioning that applying for a credit card was required to receive the offer.[21]

See also

References
  1. "La Bamba West, Inc". Twitter.
  2. "Contact La Bamba West, Inc. - Champaign, IL | 217-355-2888". Archived from the original on 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  3. Cooper, Ron (1996-11-18). "Burritos 'as big as your head' to replace Zetti's in Highlands". Louisville Business First. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  4. Opila, Sky (2006-09-25). "La Bamba owner safe and sound after being abducted at gunpoint". The Daily Illini. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  5. "La Bamba's — Carbondale". The Southern Illinoisan. 2015-09-20. Retrieved 2019-03-28. The first thing most people think when they recall La Bamba's? The "burritos as big as your head," alluded to here in this clipping from May 31, 2004.
  6. Peskoe, Nick (2012-09-20). "La Bamba: Burritos As Big As Your Head". The Nick Peskoe Real Estate Group. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  7. Garr, Robin. "LouisvilleHotBytes Archived Review / La Bamba". LouisvilleHotBytes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  8. "Best of Springfield 2009". Illinois Times. 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  9. "About - La Bamba Burritos | Mexican Restaurants". La Bamba Burritos | Mexican Restaurants. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  10. Lee, Dennis (October 2013). "Lunch in the Loop: Burritos as Big as Your Forearm at La Bamba | Chicago". Serious Eats. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  11. "La Bamba: Champaign, Il". Hennacornoeli Days. 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  12. "La Bamba Franchise". The Franchise Mall.
  13. "Best Burrito: La Bamba". Columbus Alive. 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  14. Navera, Tristan (2011-12-20). "La Bamba Burritos". Another Food Critic. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  15. Monaco, Rebecca (2017-02-08). "Uptown's hidden gem: La Bamba's sushi". Illinois State University Vidette Online. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  16. Mylander, Hank (2000-11-28). "Maybe not as big as your head: LaBamba's burritos big on taste". The Lantern. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  17. "r/WTF - La Bamba's mexican restaurant has burritos as big as your head. This is the mural on their wall..." Reddit. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  18. Engel, Carlyle (1997-02-27). "Big burritos poke heads into State College". The Daily Collegian. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  19. "La Bamba Franchise Cost - La Bamba Franchise Opportunities". Franchise Help. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  20. Derby, Samara Kalk (2015-08-27). "Restaurant News: Local La Bamba locations dwindle". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  21. Nash, James (2007-09-20). "'Free food' called illegal come-on". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  22. "Dann takes on Citi". The Lantern. 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
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