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Camacho's Place employee Diane Lemon (left) takes an order from the Owens family Feb. 9, 2011. FROM LEFT: Father Ray, daughter Melissa, wife Lisa and son (not shown). (CHELCEY ADAMI FILE PHOTO / November 20, 2012) |
When England’s Prince Harry came to the Valley last year, he and about 40 of his fellow British soldiers headed to Camacho’s Place for a nice quiet meal.
Camacho’s Place co-owner Rosie Cuellar said she didn’t recognize him “without his crown” and when he began passing down cups to go along with the 40 pitchers of beers ordered, she quickly admonished him for not filling the cups before passing them down.
He politely obliged.
However, the royal visitor might just be among the last few to enjoy a special quesadilla or carne asada at the longtime local eatery that has been hailed as a culinary legend.
Camacho’s Place will close if can’t come up with a way to afford a water treatment system required by the state after a law change this summer, Cuellar said.
The restaurant uses Sparkletts for drinking water, ice and preparing food, but it uses chemically treated canal water for toilets and sinks.
However, a change in state legislation due to a federal requirement tied to the Safe Drinking Water Act has put new regulations into effect that impact restaurants.
“Prince Harry ate here. If they thought it was dirty, do you think they’d have Prince Harry eat here?” Cuellar asked. “If we had the money to fix (the restaurant) up, we would, but I think it’s more important to focus on the food and its quality.”
Cuellar helped take over the restaurant this past spring after the former owner, her mother, Marie Knechel, died in February. A short time later, she also lost her father, and the entirety of the business began to fall on her shoulders.
When the business was transferred into her name, Cuellar said, the county sent an inspector over for the second time in a few weeks.
Cuellar asked a local engineering company recommended by a county employee for an estimate on what the required water system would cost and was told about $300,000 plus $1,000 a month for maintenance costs.
“We will do it for a reasonable price, but for a small restaurant it’s not possible,” Cuellar said. “We’re just a little restaurant. Sometimes we don’t have anybody, sometimes we’re really busy and sometimes nobody. We’re surviving just like everybody else.”
During a Nov. 7 meeting with county officials, she said she was told the restaurant has 30 days to provide a plan of what she’s going to do to comply or the restaurant would be shut down.
Since then she’s been having trouble sleeping and has broken down in tears over the issue.
“I’ve felt so distraught. Why are they doing this to us? This is all I have. This is all I know,” Cuellar said. “I don’t want to declare bankruptcy. … It’s just not right. I’m trying so hard to keep it going, been there every day since my mother passed away.”
The world-famous restaurant was established in 1946 and is a California-designated historical landmark that’s engrained into the memories of innumerable locals. Already a staple of travel magazines for its food and quirky location, a couple of years ago Camacho’s Place was featured on a Travel Channel television series.
Imperial County Environmental Health Services Manager Lars Seifert said water needs to be within the restaurant’s plumbing for dishwashing to ensure safety within state requirements, adding that there has been months of correspondence between Camacho’s Place and the county regarding the issue.
He also said he believes $300,000 is far above what a typical water system would cost.
However, Imperial Irrigation District spokeswoman Miriam Champion said that price “does seem pretty reasonable to us” for a water system outside of city limits.
“Basically it’s a water treatment plant. It’s not a Brita water filter,” she said.
Seifert also said that there’s no definite deadline of Dec. 7 but that Cuellar was likely given a verbal deadline of then to provide a plan.
“These are state regulations that the county is asked to enforce and all restaurants have to comply with the same standards,” he said. “It’s not really within the county’s authority to do any deviations from that. … It’s hard for us to still be consistent but also empathetic and understanding of the situation. We’re trying to work with her.”
He said that if Cuellar comes in and says “it’s going to take a certain amount of time to get it installed, shows a plan,” he said, then the county “can work with her.”
Seifert was sympathetic to the timing of the law change coming shortly after the restaurant owners’ deaths, but reiterated that the “timing is not dictated by us but by the state Legislature.”
And when asked if Camacho’s Place would definitely close if it doesn’t get a water treatment system?
“If she remains out of compliance and chooses not to comply, that’s likely what will happen,” he said.
Cuellar is meeting with county representatives early today about the issue, and her daughter has already set up a grassroots online effort through the restaurant’s Facebook page to try to raise money.
Hundreds of dollars were already raised within one day of the posting.
“We want to get more time to see what we can do, but they didn’t give us very much time,” Cuellar said. “It wasn’t ours before; it was my mother’s and father’s.”
Sen. Juan Vargas’ office was also already contacted to see if he could lend support.
“We have to do something or else that’s the end of the place. I can’t believe it,” Cuellar said. “I have to do something, someone needs to please help me. This destroys me, it means everything to me. I don’t know what to do.”
Staff Writer Chelcey Adami can be reached at 760-337-3452 or cadami@ivpressonline.com
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