A year and a half after the owner of Acapulco Joe's was nearly killed in an attack outside his Mexican restaurant, he has sold the downtown Indianapolis business, and it has closed for renovations.

Surgeons removed part of Grant Redmond’s skull to address bleeding and a clot in his brain due to fractures he suffered during the March 13, 2018, attack that happened after Redmond confronted a man trying to skip out on a $50 tab.

Acapulco Joe's new owner, Ezequiel Fuentes, shuttered the 365 N. Illinois St. restaurant Oct. 14 to upgrade the site. More information about Acapulco Joe'ss Oct. 27 reopening will be announced soon, according to a news release.

Fuentes plans to continue using Acapulco Joe’s recipes, including the restaurant’s popular salsa. He has owned Mexican restaurants in Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, including El Toro in Zionsville and the 560-seat Mi Tierra in Chicago, according to a statement from his press representative.

Acapulco Joe’s history

Acapulco Joe’s, one of Indianapolis’ first Mexican restaurants, opened in 1960. Besides serving tacos, burritos, refried beans and other Mexican dishes, the restaurant became known for playing Kate Smith’s version of the song “God Bless America” every day at noon.

Acapulco Joe’s original owner, Joe Rangel, would crank up the volume, forcing diners to stop talking and listen to the song. For Rangel, who first tried to emigrate from Mexico’s state of Guanajuato to the United States when he was 13, playing the song daily was a tribute to America and the opportunities the country provided.

Rangel was deported six times and finally sent to prison for illegal entry into the United States. After serving his nine-month prison term in Springfield, Missouri, Rangel married an American woman and eventually started working in restaurants.

Acapulco Joe's changed hands a couple of times after Rangel died in 1988. New owners opened and closed additional locations. Only the original survives.

Redmond, from Indianapolis’ south side, worked as an electrical engineer before he bought Acapulco Joe’s in 2013. The restaurant fed his love of cooking, a passion that dated to his childhood and led to gigs in catering, bartending and event planning before he purchased Acapulco Joe's.

Maurice Dunlap in August 2018 pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and theft charges related to the attack on Redmond. Dunlap was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.

Police said Redmond was beaten unconscious. His longtime partner, Robert Plank, told IndyStar in March 2018 that Redmond suffered a bruise on his brain that affected his language skills.

Acapulco Joe’s was originally on the west side of the Vermont and Illinois street crossroads. That location closed in 1982 to make way for a parking lot to serve AUL Tower, now OneAmerica Tower.

Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, and on Facebook. Call her at 317-444-6264.