El Paso fried-chicken favorite Elmer's Family Restaurant fights eviction in court appeal

The owner of Elmer's Family Restaurant, an East-Central El Paso institution largely known over the years for its fried chicken, is fighting an eviction judgment that led to the restaurant's sudden closure last week.

The restaurant, located at 6305 Montana Ave. for 57 years, closed last week when the building's owner, Mlouhi Organization, switched the locks on the restaurant after Justice of the Peace Josh Herrera granted an eviction judgment and ordered Elmer's to vacate the building by May 11.

The restaurant owner, Lomeli Valdez Group, of which Alvaro Valdez is listed as president, also was ordered to pay $1,750 in attorney fees to the landlord.

The restaurant also allegedly owes more than $28,000 in overdue rent. 

Lomeli Valdez Group on May 10 filed an appeal of the eviction judgment, arguing that  the restaurant building lease was no longer valid for several reasons, including that it had been "discharged by unilateral mistake of a material fact induced by the plaintiff (the Mlouhi Organization)."

Corey Haugland, an El Paso lawyer representing Mlouhi, said the restaurant owner had multiple defaults on what he called a valid lease, including nonpayment of rent and no proof of insurance. That put the landlord at risk of being sued if someone were hurt or got food poisoning at the restaurant, Haugland said. The lease expired March 31.  

A trial on the lease dispute is scheduled in an El Paso County court June 5.

Valdez and his lawyer, Michael Nevarez, were not available for comments. 

Valdez took over the restaurant in 2012, according to El Paso Times archives.

Elmer's original owners entered restaurant business in 1947 

The restaurant's roots go back 72 years to 1947, when Elmer and Jewel Poulsen started a restaurant in Central El Paso that led them in 1962 to open another restaurant at the current Montana location, then called Elmer's Coffee Shop, El Paso Times archives show.

More: El Paso brothers expand Shack Wings; Helen of Troy opts out of selling shampoo business

The Poulsens owned and operated the restaurant for years. Jewel Poulsen died in 1986, and Elmer Poulsen died in 2003, Times archives show.

"It’s an institution, an icon," said Leo Duran, owner of L&J Cafe, another iconic El Paso restaurant, and a member of the Texas Restaurant Association's board of directors. "I hate to see a business close."

"When I was growing up, that was the place to go for fried chicken," Duran said. "I haven't been there recently.

 "It's went through a few (owners') hands over the years," Duran said.

Valdez told the El Paso Times in 2014 that many of the restaurant's dishes continue to be made from Elmer Poulsen's longtime made-from-scratch recipes. 

Prior to the expiration of its six-year lease on March 31, Valdez's Lomeli Valdez Group owed an unspecified amount of rent and other charges required under the lease, according to the eviction lawsuit filed by the Mlouhi Organization on March 12.

KEEP UP with El Paso's business community. Click here to subscribe to elpasotimes.com

The restaurant owed 3½ months' rent, landlord Sam Mlouhi said in a short interview with the El Paso Times. Mlouhi said he could not comment further because the case is still in court. 

The rent was $8,150 per month, according to the lease filed with the eviction lawsuit. That means Elmer's allegedly owed $28,525, plus late fees and interest. 

Customers lament closure on Facebook

Many El Pasoans lamented the closure of Elmer's on comments posted under an Elmer customer's recent Facebook posting about the closing. One of the comments came from someone posting for Elmer's Family Restaurant.

"A miss understanding (misunderstanding) working on getting it back opened asap to continue the tradition," the restaurant's post stated.

The restaurant's website was no longer in operation Friday.

In February, after President Donald Trump's El Paso campaign rally, the restaurant was featured on the Fox News morning TV show, "Fox and Friends." Several El Paso Trump supporters were interviewed at the restaurant's dining counter.

Valdez, the restaurant owner, told the show's reporter that his business is "down the middle. We are not Democrats or Republicans."

"We're just here to invite people to our business, so we can be here longer than we've already been," Valdez said on the show.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter.