El Fat Cat eatery sinks its saucy claws into a big expansion
Update: The popular food truck passed all its inspections and reopened Friday, Sept. 20.
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El Fat Cat Grill will reopen soon at its spot near Kamiakin High School after closing for a month to more than double in size.
“We’ve outgrown it,” said Felix Sanchez, who owns the business with his wife Jenny.
A new bigger trailer will speed up service at the counter and increase their ability to cater to customers who order through meal delivery apps like Door Dash.
It will also centralize food preparation, Felix Sanchez said.
The semi-mobile restaurant uses a commissary kitchen in Richland to store ingredients and prep salsas and other items, including Felix’s inventive sauces.
With the added space, El Fat Cat will serve as its own commissary, with proper storage facilities, prep areas and wash basins.
The Sanchezes estimate they invested $30,000 in the expansion, not counting the cost of closing for more than a month.
They closed in August because school-related business slows down and because summer heat forces them to shut down early most days anyway.
Kennewick artist Heidi Elkington painted the trailer, highlighting its iconic El Fat Cat originally created by Tito Fernandez.
The picnic tables were painted by David V 35, and artists Cosme Olivera and Bob Wright lent their skills, as did local chainsaw artist Butch Elrod.
And Jenny Sanchez invited fans to bring painted rocks to El Fat Cat. Painted rocks are hidden throughout the community to spread joy. The local movement has its own Facebook @Tri-City Rocks.
Voted favorite food truck
El Fat Cat is one of the most popular food trucks in the Mid-Columbia. Tri-City Herald readers voted it their favorite local food truck in the 2019 Readers Choice awards.
But Felix and Jenny launched their personal take on Thai- and Asian-infused Mexican-American cuisine on a whim.
Both are Tri-City natives, teen sweethearts who met at Kennewick High School.
She was a photographer, he worked in a series of local restaurants, including T.S. Cattle Company and Castle.
The couple moved to Las Vegas, where he worked at the Venetian and Mandalay Bay casinos, learning first-hand what it is to work in high volume restaurants.
The family returned to the Tri-Cities for family and friends.
Felix spent three years driving dump trucks and snowplows for the Washington Department of Transportation. He loved driving, but his passion for cooking and inventing flavors returned.
Opportunity knocked when Jenny was looking for space for a photo studio near downtown Kennewick. An empty cafe beckoned next door.
“I can make this work,” Felix said.
“You’re going to open a restaurant, aren’t you?” Jenny asked on the trip home.
El Fat Cat opened two months at Fourth and Vancouver at the Midtown Plaza. It took its name from the “Felix the Fat Cat” taunts that Felix’s sisters once lobbed his way. “El” is a nod to the family’s Mexican heritage.
The brick-and-mortar restaurant operated for a year, until a rent hike prompted the Sanchezes to move the business into a food truck.
El Fat Cat made its food truck debut in 2012 at Richland’s John Dam Plaza. It traveled to events, dabbled in catering and was a fixture for several years at the Benton-Franklin County Fair.
It found a mostly-permanent home on Edison Street when the owner of Edison Car Wash near Kamiakin invited they to move onto his property.
El Fat Cat started in front, facing Edison, and later moved into the small trailer behind the car wash. But that hasn’t stopped the eatery’s popularity.
Kamiakin students and staff regularly converge on El Fat Cat for the $6 burrito-and-drink lunch special. The Sanchezes said business grew through word of mouth. Students and staff told family and friends and business took off.
“It’s all word of mouth. No advertising,” Felix said.
The couple hope to reopen El Fat Cat Grill by early next week, subject to final approval from the Benton-Franklin Health District.
Watch its Facebook page for updates, @ElFatCatGrill.mobile
This story was originally published September 5, 2019 at 12:47 PM.