This Modesto-based restaurant chain keeps growing despite the pandemic
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has upended our expectations, both large and small. But if there’s one thing locally you can count on, it’s the continued expansion of Mango Crazy.
The Modesto-based chain of Mexican street-food inspired restaurants had opened four locations before the COVID-19 outbreak started in early March. And in the six months since, they’ve opened four more. Yes, folks, set your clocks by these guys. They won’t let snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of a continuing public health crisis stop them from their appointed expansion plans (though, come to think of it, we could certainly use those first two non-existent local obstacles with all the wildfire).
Mango Crazy founders and owners Andy Lopez and Larry Rivera opened their newest Modesto location, at the high-profile intersection of McHenry and Briggsmore avenues, Wednesday. Timed to coincide with Mexican Independence Day, the shop brings the restaurant’s signature blend of sweet, spicy, savory and sour treats to the former Rita’s Italian Ice corner spot.
Rivera, who with Lopez founded Mango Crazy with one shop in the Village One Plaza shopping center in 2014, said the pandemic has complicated but not halted their expansion plans, which include taking over the five former Rita’s locations which all closed earlier this year.
So far four of the five former Rita’s locations have reopened as Mango Crazy shops. They are the site in Ceres on Mitchell and Hatch roads which opened in late March, in Lathrop on Harlan Road which opened in April and in Atwater on Shaffer Road which opened in May. They add to the chain’s existing Modesto spots Floyd Avenue, Kansas Avenue and a truck in the Grub Hubs food court, as well as Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco — the Bay Area location being the duo’s furthest afield to date.
The new Modesto location on McHenry Avenue will carry the full line of Mango Crazy’s drinks, snacks, sweets and meals. That includes a new custom-made line of paletas, fruit and other flavored ice cream pops that are popular Mexican treats. Rivera said they plan to change up the flavors each week, matching their house-made agua frescas.
Beside those sweet treats, the shops also sell mangonadas, fruit cups, ceviche, tostilocos (tortilla chips tossed with fruits, nuts and spices) and more.
Restaurant grows despite pandemic
Rivera said because each shop had a relatively small footprint, and small seating areas, the safety restrictions prohibiting indoor dining through the pandemic haven’t slowed business as much as at some other establishments. Their largest dining room can only seat about a dozen, and some outside seating is also available.
Mango Crazy offers dishes that are perfect for snacking on the go, and something most people can’t easily make at home — unless they want their kitchen to look like super-sized fruit salads and spice racks.
“I think the quality of the food, the customer service and that it’s a little healthier option has helped us,” Rivera said. “We’ve scrambled to change according to whatever the CDC and state requested. And people kept coming in. People want something different than they can make at home and that’s what we have.”
They’ve even continued to see success at their San Francisco location, opened in late 2018, despite the dramatic drop in global tourism due the the coronavirus. Rivera said courier services and delivery apps have helped to sustain that location, and created a new local customer base instead of just relying on the vacation set.
And, as you should probably expect by now, Mango Crazy isn’t done growing. The pair and their investment partners have four more planned in the near future. That includes a new Elk Grove location and two upcoming sites in Turlock. One is in the former Rita’s in the Monte Vista Crossings shopping center next to the just opened Crumbl Cookies, and the other is about to start work on Geer Road in a former pizza parlor. They also just agreed on terms for a new location in Campbell, their first location in the South Bay near San Jose.
Rivera said while the pandemic has slowed their expansion, they are proud to keep growing and now have a site “on one of the biggest intersections of Modesto.”
“We would have been able to open these faster, but a lot of equipment and supplies in general have taken a long time to get here,” he said. “That on top of the coin shortage and shutdowns and everything else (this year) has thrown at us, we’ve experienced it and overcome it.”
Mango Crazy, at 2001 McHenry Ave. in Modesto, is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily for takeout delivery. For more information call 209-569-5295 or visit mangocrazy.com.
Elsewhere around the Business Beat:
Look, you can’t go to a pro sports stadium to get an over-priced hot dog anyway right now. So might as well enjoy them closer to home (and much more reasonably priced) with the new Wienerschnitzel opening next week on Modesto’s Yosemite Boulevard.
The hot dog and fast-food chain opened its newest Stanislaus County location on Sept. 22. Nestled in between a car wash and Taco Bell, the stand-alone, ground-up construction site features a drive-thru. The site is a combination Wienerschnitzel and Tastee-Freez, an ice cream and frozen treats chain owned by the same parent company as the hot dog restaurants.
Work on the new site started in March. The last new Wienerschnitzel in Stanislaus County opened in Turlock’s Monte Vista Crossings center in fall 2018.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 4:00 AM with the headline "This Modesto-based restaurant chain keeps growing despite the pandemic."
