Rico's Mexican Grill Caught in Downward Financial Spiral

A Tex-Mex chain based in The Woodlands is passing through the eye of a financial hurricane. Rico's Mexican Grill, which opened its first location almost 10 years ago, is facing two lawsuits, nearly a half million in state and federal tax liens and shuttered two (out of eight total) locations for failing to pay rent in the last month. Adding to the flood of despair, one of those shuttered locations "vacated its Shenandoah location without notice."

The Woodlands Villager reports that one of the lawsuits involves Rico's employees "claiming the company failed to pay them overtime wages for overtime hours," and that the other comes from Humble Independent School District, "claiming the restaurant owes taxes [...] dating back to 2008."

According to a lawyer for Rico's, "the company has been a victim of the slow economy and its own accelerated growth," and claims the overtime wage dispute is due to an "accounting error."

· Financial Woes Continue for Rico's Mexican Grill [The Villager]
· Rico's Mexican Grill [Official Site]