Los Panchos in Sycamore closed, Eggslap Enterprises seeking new tenant

SYCAMORE – Los Panchos, a restaurant in south Sycamore, closed last month, but the building’s owners are trying to attract new investors to operate out of the restaurant space.

Derick Ibarra, 42, of Sycamore said his family owns the building and restaurant space at 1470 S. Peace Road through Eggslap Enterprises LLC. The company also owns three gaming parlors in DeKalb County, including two in Sycamore – one of which is in the same building as the now defunct Los Panchos location.

With a vacant property near the corner of Peace Road and DeKalb Avenue, Ibarra said his family is hoping they can attract restaurateurs to their space.

“Whether it’s somebody that’s interested like a family interested in running a restaurant, or it’s a corporate type of entity, a franchise that would want to come in and use the space, we just want to make sure that we bring in something that Sycamore wants,” Ibarra said. “Because [it’s] like have your cake and eat it too. We’ve got a beautiful restaurant, we’ve got a beautiful space and a beautiful town. My wish is that we bring in something that the community would really enjoy.”

Ibarra said he’s reached out to a handful different concepts that he thinks would be successful, mainly gastro-pub concepts or breweries or distilleries looking to expand their in-person offerings.

Derick Ibarra said the building that used to be the home of Los Panchos is set up for any kind of restaurant, not just Mexican or hispanic concepts. — Derick Ibarra said on July 5, 2023 the building that used to be the home of Los Panchos is set up for any kind of restaurant, not just Mexican or Hispanic concepts. (Camden Lazenby)

In 2015, after Ibarra and his family spent almost seven years operating their own restaurant – Cabana Charley’s – Eggslapp Enterprises leased the space to a family from Iowa, who owned and operated the Los Panchos restaurant concept in Sycamore. Last month, however, the restaurant closed following a mutual agreement between Eggslap Enterprises and the owners of Los Panchos, Ibarra said.

The business never fully recovered after the pandemic, Ibarra said.

“They ran the restaurant for almost eight years,” Ibarra said. “After [COVID-19], thing’s just weren’t the same and, unfortunately, sales just slowed down. And it’s a big space, so in order to keep this space successful, it needs to be running at full capacity. With just shortages of employees and kitchen staff, it became really stressful.”

With Los Panchos permanently closed, Ibarra is spending his time cleaning and organizing, and performing maintenance on the building’s ventilation system, plumbing and kitchen equipment. Although the building is not making the family enterprise any money, Ibarra said they’ve spent thousands of dollars to update the building’s awnings.

Derick Ibarra, of Eggslap Enterprises LLC, performed maintenance inside the space Los Panchos used to operate out of on July 5, 2023. His family, which owns the building through the enterprise, is hoping to begin showing the restaurant space to potential restaurateurs as soon as possible. (Camden Lazenby)

“Our goal is to make sure maintenance-wise everything is operational, so we can start showing this space and then hopefully work for a decade or more with another family that’s going to come in here, or a franchise that would like to come in here.”

Ibarra said his parents, who first formed Eggslap Enterprises, as well as his siblings and his own children are all Sycamore residents, and the entire family is committed to the success of the business venture.

“We’re not going anywhere, so this place will be a restaurant eventually,” Ibarra said.