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Noozhawk’s note: The original version of this story erroneously reported that El Paseo Mexican Restaurant owner John Scott hadn’t found any viable buyers to purchase the historic eatery. The corrected version is below.
Longtime El Paseo Mexican Restaurant managing partner Paul Jakubowski has purchased the restaurant from previous owner John Scott.
Jakubowski started working with Scott in 1992 as the historic restaurant’s general manager. He took advantage of an opportunity to purchase El Paseo last year and began taking over operations in February, he said.
“I’m very confident about the future of El Paseo and its continued success,” Jakubowski said.
The restaurant has been in escrow since Feb. 29, and Jakubowski expects it to go through in about a week, once the liquor license is approved. He has more than 11 years left on the lease, Jakubowski said.
El Paseo, 813 Anacapa St., was built in 1826 and opened a restaurant in 1922, where Democratic state Senate candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson recently held her election party.
Business is up 30 percent from last year partly due to El Paseo’s reputation as a “celebration headquarters” and the increasing number of banquets and special events it hosts, Jakubowski said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Alex Kacik can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @NoozhawkBiz, @noozhawk and @NoozhawkNews. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
