Mico Rodriguez Out at M Crowd
M Crowd co-founder Mico Rodriguez has left the company. The circumstances surrounding his departure remain a bit murky. But here’s the official statement from the M Crowd:
The M Crowd Restaurant Group announces the appointment of CEO Greg Good, a 16-year restaurant icon and veteran of the highly successful Cheddars concept. “I am thrilled with the opportunity to join the M Crowd family,” he said. Good will work with original partners Ray Washburne, Dick Washburne, and Bob McNutt overseeing M Crowd Restaurant Group’s concepts, which include Mi Cocina, Taco Diner, Mainstream Fish House, The Mercury and The Mercury Chophouse. One of the original partners, Mico Rodriquez, remains a shareholder of M Crowd Restaurant Group but is now pursuing other restaurant ventures.
I’ve heard that Mico’s wife (from whom he is separated) has broken ground on a new joint in Preston Royal. But no word yet of a new Mico restaurant — or whether he’s under a non-compete and will have to cool his heels awhile. Developing …
19 Comments to “Mico Rodriguez Out at M Crowd”
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Wonder if they just handed him a framed note that said:
“Here at M Crowd, we are in the restaurant business. If you do not intend to continue making us money, please vacate your office.”
Jay, you beat me to it. Touché
I wonder how long before the M Crowd restaurants follow the La Madeleine franchise down the can….The corporatization of many of our unique restuarants is lamentable. Although judging by the recent Mi Cocina press, they already have a good start on it!
Does it not bother anyone else who has had countless memorable meals and margaritas over the last 17 years at Mi Cocina that the “Official Statement” from M Crowd’s new régime has nary a mention of the “Godfather of DFW Tex-Mex” or the “Mayor of Texmexification” — MICO!!! Greg Good? Who is he? MICO is the ICON, and now that he is gone, HIS restaurants are destined to be everything short of iconic.
Quit overreacting. Tex-mex existed long before Mico had the idea to charge three times as much for rice and beans as the other guys. I won’t argue with his success, but his legend in this area is somewhat overrated.
Mico is no longer part of MCrowd? Say it isn’t so….it’s like hearing “Disneyland might lose Mickey Mouse…In some giant hostile corporate shake-up…tell me it’s a nightmare, please wake me up!”
Bet chef Chris Ward is high fivin’ it over at the Mercury Grill.
From this moment on chef Ward, you no longer have to do enchiladas, taquitos, or tacos on your menu that you were “bullied” into doing in the first place.
@ De Luxe
Go to Casa Blanca, Mia’s, Mannys - all Mico’s family, all great Tex-Mex AND all on Lemmon Avenue. They all learned at Momma’s knee. Mico was just better at selling himself to the Crowd. Jay is right, Mico got too proud of his marginal food and maybe way too impressed with himself. Henry - bad analogy, Disneyland is so 1950s, they had their day and so has Mico.
You never know he might get his act together and open something fabulous!!!
Say what you will, but Mico was the brainchild behind his concepts; no one else. His first and only priority was to put the absolute best in front of his guests, no matter what the cost. Mico was uber passionate (many would say obsessive) about quality, NOT about the almighty dollar. That’s why he charged what people consider to be “so much!” That’s why he made so much — he was different! No one else was spending the money he was to warehouse and age their cheese for 6 months. No one else was buying 100% Blue Agave Tequila for their House Frozen and Rocks Margaritas. No one else was spending hundreds of dollars on each uniform and hundreds of thousands on restaurant design. Mico was and is a transcendent figure in our restaurant community. He dreamt what no one else dared to dream and did what no one else dared to do. These new corporate guys are sure to change that, and in the process make Mi Cocina and the rest of the M Crowd brands (save possibly Chris Ward’s Mercury) into every other cookie cutter Tex-Mex place. Mico’s three other partners care about one thing and one thing only: MONEY! I promise you will see drastic changes in their restaurants that are made for one reason and one reason only, and that is to save money! But do you think they will lower prices once they cut costs? No way in hell. Say bye-bye to another Dallas born-and-bred institution. Today Mi Cocina lost its soul, and my heart and my palate will forever weep.
He was let go because his love for the bottle far exceeded his desire to run a decent corporation His bullying of employees teetered on a hostile work environment. He has issues that need not be brought into the work place or Mcrowd. Maybe if he gets his proverbial s*it together, he can enter into a new venture.
Lucy — how is ripping off your mother’s recipes and turning your back on your family resemble a brainchild? Mico was despicable in his attitude towards his customers and towards his hard working employees — just ask them. Adios and good riddance to a jerk
Many of you have opinions of what you think you know about Tex mex and over priced meals, but what you don’t know, and hats off to Lucy Changa on her comment, is that MICO is passionate about making the best experience for EVERY single one of you that has and will continue to eat and drink at the M Crowd locations. Make no mistake, Mico did not invent Tex Mex, but he did create a popular and trendy venue for Dallas without comprising quality and keeping the Tex Mex concept in it. Say what you will, but until you have worked, designed, created, and reinvented the wheel in the restaurant arena - you are just like the rest of us, looking for the next “in” place to eat and drink without thinking of how it was created, or pardon me ESTASBLISHED! We should all wish the best for Mico and thank him for his part in keeping Dallas alive in giving us choices to experience our first date, anniversary, birthday gathering, or just a Sunday afternoon out on the patio. Best of luck to Mico and M Crowd!
Hats off to Lucy Chango? Chango translates to “change” in spanish. Get it? Lucy Change = “Loose Change”
which - btw - is what she tipped us waiter’s with
Some people just have no clue, or maybe just blog to blog and have never actually eaten at Mi Cocina… Lucy Changa is an item from their menu. You know, that huge flash fried flour tortilla stuffed with whatever you want. No mere mortal could ever eat it all in one sitting. Cambio is Spanish for change; NOT changa. And to all the Mico bashers out there, you are heartless. Maybe he does have a drinking problem, or maybe his problems run even deeper than that. Who really knows (probably none of us) but one thing I do know is that he provided me and my family with countless wonderful lunches and dinners, brunches and nightcaps. Maybe at times he was a little hard on his employees, but what passionate owner isn’t from time to time? How many jobs has he provided for those who might not have had that opportunity in this country? Mico certainly has his faults, but he who doesn’t should cast the first stone… Here’s hoping Mico is alive and well and is ready to stage a comeback that I am proud to support!
Hopefully, Mico’s unfortunate departure (for him) from MCrowd and the recent poor publicity for Mi Cocina are omens for the begining of the end of the overpriced tex-mex concept. I’ll continue spending my money at places like Mexicali Cafe.
J Montenegro,
Just by you telling us where you eat(says alot about your taste pallate). Mico is my cousin, and there is so much truth to what was posted on here today (even a little of what you have posted), but you are taking the human element out of it completely. I wonder if you have ever poured your heart completely into something and lost it? What ever my cousin faces now, he lost something he successfully committed himself too. Mico is one of a kind and very creative. He has style that many admire. It is tragic for him to lose what his has worked so hard for. I see this as an opportunity for Mico to prove how strong he is whatever his trials are. I know he has the strenght within to pull up from this. He just has to want it and do what it takes to get it done. He has done it once, so the second time should be a snap.
Gregg Esteban
http://www.estebansrestaurante.com
of all these comments, only damon had a glimpse of reality. where on earth is the human side of business? Mico knows exactly where it is. He got to the soul of each and every employee he had. He has been a teacher, mentor, as sometimes father to most of his 700 +. I know that Mico will be just fine. He’s been tested many times, and has upraised successfully. He is truly an example of courage and determination that money is not the only ingredient behind a successful person. MiCocina will sure miss his spirit coming in everyday.
My family and I have known Mico since he was a young man at Mia’s on Lemmon. Talk about integrity and makking lemmonade out of lemmons. HE made that company. You take the Mico out of M Crowd you are taking the life out of the company. Now it just becomes another chain. Another Macdonalds of Mexican Food. Need we be reminded that the Dallas res crowd is all about who you are, not what you serve. Sure… good food helps but it is all about THE MAN! Or woman to be equal.
Mico will have our business wherever he goes and whatever he does. Why? because it is all about the person!
P.S. Please don’t take the gypsy group of RP Valet with you! They can stay at Mi Cocina and keep wrecking cars there