Another restaurant offering Mexican fare is moving into the former home of Tumbleweeds Mexican Flair in central Richland.

Muchas Gracias Mexican Food has hung a “coming soon” banner on the bright purple cinder block building at 894 Stevens Drive.

Keith Moon, former owner of Tumbleweeds, shared a photo on his social media in mid-December of the building with painter’s plastic draped over the interior windows and with the caption: “New things are afoot.”

Moon’s family owned Tumbleweeds for more than 23 years. He and his wife Jane bought it from his mother, Eve Moon, in 2014. 

Just a year ago Moon was preparing to open a second Tumbleweeds location in West Richland near the intersection of Bombing Range Road and Van Giesen Street while debating how to proceed at the restaurant’s longtime Richland location where the lease was expiring. Moon said at the time that the now 53-year-old building needed hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements.

The restaurant announced it would cease operations in the fall, and both the Richland and West Richland restaurants have since closed. Moon has since become the executive director of the West Richland Chamber of Commerce, effective Jan. 1.

Muchas Gracias moved into the Tri-Cities in 2024 when it leased the 1,868-square-foot former Taco Johns at 701 W. Vineyard Drive near Kennewick High School. The Oregon-based Mexican restaurant chain, which has 28 locations in Washington, Oregon and California, is open 24 hours a day and serves a wide variety of burritos, including breakfast burritos, rolled tacos, tostados, chimichangas and quesadillas.

Muchas Gracias did not return requests for comment.