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Updated: July 31, 2023 @ 4:49 am
Los Nietos Mexican Restaurant in Bloomington after it burned down Saturday afternoon.
Los Nietos served the Bloomington community for eight years.
Energy and Environment Reporter

Before moving to the Crossroads, Leo Bertucci studied journalism and political science at Western Kentucky University.
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Los Nietos Mexican Restaurant in Bloomington after it burned down Saturday afternoon.
Los Nietos served the Bloomington community for eight years.
BLOOMINGTON — Only a few walls and part of the roof are what is left of Los Nietos Mexican Restaurant. Flames ruined the building Saturday afternoon.
“Basically it’s all gone,” said Ismael Guerra, who ran the restaurant with his wife Blanca Guerra. “We have to throw away the burnt equipment.”
Ismael Guerra said no one was inside the building when the fire ignited. The restaurant had just closed for the rest of the day.
A man mowing the restaurant’s lawn spotted the flames and called Guerra, who then called 911.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” he said. “Within a minute or two, the fire was burning fast because of the grease inside the kitchen.”
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Sunday, Victoria County Fire Marshal Richard Castillo said.
Guerra said the fire marshal told him the building must be demolished.
The Guerras rented the property, located at 12566 SH 185, but they owned the kitchen appliances, Guerra said. The owners did not have renters insurance.
Guerra said he and his wife lived three blocks away from their restaurant. Guerra’s wife ran Los Nietos day-to-day, while he helped out when he was not working as an operator at Formosa Plastics in Point Comfort.
Known as La Guera when it first opened in 2015, the restaurant was renamed Los Nietos after Hurricane Harvey rolled through Bloomington two years later.
Although the option to rebuild the lost structure lies with their landlord, Guerra said he and his wife are interested in serving their breakfast tacos out of a food truck, which would be located in the existing parking lot.
“On Monday, we will find out how much it would cost to buy a food truck,” he said Sunday afternoon. “Our landlord gave us permission to put a food truck on his property.”
If the Guerras buy a food truck, they could open for business a month or so after they bring the truck to the former restaurant’s parking lot, he said.
Guerra said he would like customers to be patient as his family decides what their next steps are. The Guerras were cleaning up at the restaurant on Sunday.
“Things happen for a reason,” he said. “Running a restaurant is a big investment.”
Leo Bertucci is a Report for America corps member who covers energy and environment for the Victoria Advocate.

A fire in Bloomington started to kill bees on an abandoned home, claimed the house and sent two people living at a neighboring property to the hospital Saturday afternoon.
Energy and Environment Reporter

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