El Matador restaurant reopens in Costa Mesa...

El Matador restaurant reopens in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa’s El Matador restaurant reopened Friday, new owner Greg

McConaughy said.

McConaughy, who lives in Corona del Mar, purchased the restaurant

from the Orange County Public Administrator/Public Guardian’s office

in June for $535,000. McConaughy bought El Matador after the winner

of a May county auction decided not to close the restaurant.

Three weeks of refurbishments preceded the reopening, McConaughy

said. The restaurant’s staff, chef and menu has remained the same.

“We’re real excited about the restaurant,” McConaughy said. “I

think we’re going to do really great. We’ve got a real great customer

base.”

El Matador was founded in 1966 by Marcial Gallardo Sr., an

immigrant from Zacatecas, Mexico. He died in 2003 and El Matador was

willed to his sons. Family troubles led to the restaurant being

placed in the county’s hands in 2004.

The Gallardo family did not intend for El Matador to be sold to

another owner and attempted to buy the restaurant back from the

county.

Eastbluff is open for intra-district transfers

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has posted a notice on

its website, informing parents that Eastbluff Elementary School is

open for intra-district transfers.

In recent months, parents have voiced a desire for greater student

enrollment at the Newport Beach school, which reopened in 1999 after

being closed for years. The district is considering a plan to rezone

the school attendance areas in its Corona del Mar zone, citing a

possible influx of students at Newport Coast Elementary School.

At the school board meeting Tuesday, more than 50 Eastbluff

parents and students attended with signs reading “We Love Eastbluff”

and “Change Our Boundaries.”

The rezoning plan, which the district has been discussing since

last fall, would involve shifting neighborhoods to different schools’

attendance zones to ensure that no sites were overcrowded.

Board members noted that even if Newport Coast did not require

rezoning, they would still look into ways of raising enrollment at

Eastbluff.

Youth employment service director retires

Costa Mesa-based Youth Employment Service of the Harbor Area

announced that longtime Executive Director Lynne Graham has retired

and will be replaced by Kathy Du Vernet of Laguna Beach. Graham

headed the organization for 20 years.

Du Vernet is a former director of the Long Beach Bar Assn. and Bar

Foundation and has worked for nonprofit organizations for more than

20 years.

Since 1970, the service has helped young people get employment

skills and has matched them with employers. The organization has

trained about 42,000 young people and has assisted more than 26,000

people in obtaining jobs.

For more information, call (949) 642-0474.