Posted 10:27 pm Sunday, February 05, 2012
Tyler Couple Opens Downtown Eatery With Healthy Twist
By CASEY MURPHY
Business Editor
Business Editor
Victor and Maria Covarrubias are bringing a little quick and healthy food with a Mexican flair to downtown Tyler.
Both longtime radio disc jockeys who have lived in Tyler for 12 years, the couple is opening the Quick & Healthy Sandwich Shop at 110 N. College Ave., where Mr. B's Sandwiches was housed until July, 2010.
The spot has sat vacant since then but on Wednesday, the couple was working to spruce up the place with "happy" colors, such as orange, purple and red, and add touches of Mexico.
The Covarrubias plan to open the restaurant in about a week, they said.
Mrs. Covarrubias, 34, said they will sell homemade sandwiches, salads and seafood, such as salmon and tilapia. There will also be breakfast and daily specials, such as soups, baked potatoes and tacos.
Foods will have a little Mexican flair, such as peppers, avocado and something spicy, she added.
Quick & Healthy will serve deserts, such as chocolate cake, Cr￨me Brulee and cheesecake, as well as healthy snacks and beverages like fruit cocktail, natural juices and shakes. The couple will also serve up one of their favorites, Bionicos, a popular dish in Mexico consisting of fruit, yogurt and granola.
They chose the name Quick & Healthy because everything will be fresh and natural and will be served quickly for people working downtown who are in a hurry, Covarrubias said.
"It's very exciting for me," Mrs. Covarrubias said of opening the business.
Covarrubias, 35, said they chose the location because downtown is growing with more businesses and dynamic people every day.
He believes more businesses coming to downtown will bring more customers to their business, and they thought the area needed something a little different, he said.
The couple married 14 years ago and moved to the United States from their native Mexico in 1999, first living with his parents in Chicago before moving to Irving.
They chose to move to Tyler from Irving 12 years ago because it was a quite city and a good place to raise their two children Mikey, 11, and Josafat, 8, they said.
They have both worked in radio in Chicago and Dallas and still are disc jockeys for The East Texas Radio Group.
Mrs. Covarrubias DJs on the morning show on La Invasora 96.7 in Tyler and Covarrubias is on the afternoon show for Invasora 92.1 in Shreveport.
The couple is going to run Quick & Healthy, along with their sister-and-law Rosa Ruvalcava and brother-in-law Marvin Gomez.
Covarrubias said his wife and sister-in-law will be the official owners and bosses and he and his brother-in-law will be their workers.
Covarrubias will be the "mobile advertising man" for Quick & Healthy, he said.
His wife tells him he should wrap himself in sandwich board signs and run around downtown each morning to advertise the new business, he said jokingly.
"I think downtown needs more life; more excitement," he said.
But all joking aside, Covarrubias invites everyone downtown to visit the shop when it opens to enjoy the new place and the food.
"We're very excited to open this business," he said. "Downtown Tyler is beautiful."
Quick & Healthy will be open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
