Zumba Mexican Grille to close, open as Detroit Taco Co.

Zumba Mexican Grille -- a counter-service spot in Royal Oak with an industrial-chic look -- is set to close Wednesday, and reopen in two weeks or more as a new eatery, the Detroit Taco Co., with new ownership.

The new restaurant is set to hold a grand opening on Nov. 1, to coincide with Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations.

It will offer some of the same signature items, like the bowl-rito, a tortilla-less burrito, Kathy Vargo, a spokeswoman for the company, said this afternoon. But a new menu is expected, focusing much more on tacos -- including chicken, steak, shrimp and barbecue -- as its new name suggests.

"With anything, it was an opportunity," she said, declining to discuss many of the terms of the deal.

The new concept also will offer roasted corn on the cob with chipotle cream and cotija cheese.

The new owner Jeffrey Omtvedt, who has worked in the restaurant industry, also is the controller at Rojo Mexican Bistro. His great uncle, Sam Lafata, was co-owner of St. Clair Shores banquet hall the Gourmet House. Omtvedt graduated

Zumba, which first opened in 2000 in a cinder-block building that once housed a coney island eatery, aimed to make fresh Mexican food, and Zumba's owner, Tim Castaneda, it's general manager, Jesse Escobedo, and most of its cook and wait staff have agreed to stay on, Vargo said.

She confirmed, however, that Castaneda, retains ownership of the Zumba name, and will be free to open a another Zumba. The restaurant, at 304 N. Main St., was the third location for Zumba. In 2011, it relocated to Birmingham, and about two years ago moved back in Royal Oak.

In a Free Press review, shortly after it originally opened, Castaneda, said the word zumba has several meanings in Mexico, including the sound made by bees and the energy from someone moving to music while sitting down. The review added that the restaurant was "definitely abuzz."

The restaurant offered big burritos, tacos and quesadillas. Guacamole and salsas were made every day.