Luis Rodriguez Jr. and Luis Rodriguez Sr. plan to reopen their Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant in Jacksonville. The building was destroyed by fire in September 2022.

Just over a year since fire destroyed the Las Palmas Mexican restaurant in downtown Jacksonville, the family who opened the popular eatery two decades ago promises they’re still staging a comeback at the same location.

Luis Rodriguez Jr. runs the restaurant with his parents and siblings. He said his phone and social media have been inundated in recent weeks when the family announced they had signed a lease for a new location at the former Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant on Sage Road in Medford.

Rodriguez teased that the announcement nearly incited a riot with Jacksonville diners.

Fire tore through the salmon and teal colored building at 210 E. California St. the morning of Sept. 27 last year. Rodriguez and his family, who opened the restaurant in 2002, have spent the past year serving from a pair of food trucks and surviving on catering gigs while waiting for their landlord to rebuild.

A chance to open in Medford popped up unexpectedly, Rodriguez said, but was never intended to replace the Jacksonville location.

“When we announced on Facebook that we were opening up in Medford, I got so many calls and messages,” Rodriguez said.

“I got a call from someone at the city who said, ‘I need you to clarify that you’re still reopening because word is going around that you’re not.’ I said, ‘No, we are, for sure.’”

Rodriguez said the local restaurant rumor mill went into overdrive when, the same week that the Medford location opened, the Jacksonville location was demolished. He said his family found out the building was gone at the same time as everyone else.

Though initial plans called for saving the structure, Rodriguez and city officials said the damage was too extensive. The building not being historic made it an easy decision to start over.

“It was cheaper to rebuild than to try and use the four walls that were left standing,” Rodriguez said.

Luis Rodriguez Sr. said it was bittersweet to learn that the structure was gone, but also meant progress was underway.

“My daughter was working (on site) in the food truck, and she saw when it happened. My son called and told me they were tearing it down,” said the dad.

“We drove down here that night. I had to see for myself.”

The younger Rodriguez said the sudden void on the corner of California and South Fourth streets was painful to see, but that property owners have involved the family in the rebuilding process.

“They have told us, ‘You are the family we want to have here,’” he said.

“We want to be here for a long time. Twenty days prior to the fire, we had signed a five-year lease.”

Rodriguez Jr. said support from the community and city had been immediate and humbling since the morning of the fire. Standing near the now-vacant lot on a recent afternoon, drivers of nearly a dozen cars and trucks honked or waved at the father and son.

“It’s been this way since right after the fire happened. I went into the market, and everybody came up and was standing around me, asking what happened and what we were going to do,” Rodriguez Jr. said.

“The city doesn’t even allow food trucks in Jacksonville normally, but they did a special permit and let us be here. Any kind of event, they’ve pulled our food truck over. … We have people, all the time who buy food just to support us.”

Jacksonville planning director Ian Foster said the fate of Las Palmas had been a hot topic for the past year. Foster admitted he was briefly concerned when he learned about the Medford location.

“They’re a fixture here, so we just wanted to make sure. Their fire was in September of 2022, so it’s been kind of sitting there for a long time,” Foster said, noting that things had been “pretty quiet” until permit applications were submitted in October.

Foster said the city had been proactive about offering support.

“The city council first approved the operation of the cart, which is outside of the norm for the city, and allowed them to have some tables and things out there. We want to support existing local businesses. It was something we felt was important in this situation,” he said.

“We’re really glad that they’re sticking around. We’ve had a lot of inquiries, even outside of the city. I go to my Rotary meeting and people come up and ask me, ‘What do you know about Las Palmas?’ There’s interest all over the valley about what’s happening with that.”

Rodriguez Jr. said he was grateful for support from the city and community. After sharing in the family’s grief, he looks forward to celebrating a return to Jacksonville with loyal customers.

“After the fire, we had people walk by and say how heavy their hearts were for us. We’re eager to show them that we really are coming back. It’s been bittersweet to see everything gone, but it’s going to come back better,” he said.

“God sends us things that we face for a reason, and that’s what we put our faith in. The community has backed us up completely.”

Rodriguez Jr. said reopening in Medford had given him resolve to have both locations operational as soon as possible.

“At the Medford location, we have the archways at the front door and we painted it the same colors as Jacksonville. I got chills when they painted the walls. It felt like we were back in our old place,” he said.

“It’s been a crazy ride, but we’ll be up and running — in both places — before we know it.”