Face to Face With Wayne Trotter

Four of the most well-known and popular Mérida restaurants, Pancho’s, La Tratto, Trotter’s, and Bryan's Modern Grill are all owned and operated by the Trotter family. But they share much more than ownership: they all have the same standards of quality food, excellent service, and enticing (but totally different) ambience.

Wayne Trotter, originally from Toronto, opened Pancho’s in 1971, in the same location where it stands today. In those days, Mérida’s Centro was practically the only place in the city to find good restaurants, and Pancho’s was popular with locals and tourists alike. It started out serving traditional Yucatecan and Mexican food, and over the years the menu has evolved as trends have changed. In 2006, the menu was completely redesigned, to offer something unique: Progressive Mexican Cuisine.

In 1991, seeing that the locals were starting to live and socialize in the north part of the city, Wayne bought a restaurant on the south end of Prolongación de Montejo called BBQ López. Meanwhile, his son Paul was in Philadelphia studying Restaurant Management. When Paul returned in 1991, they decided to change the theme from barbecue to Italian…and La Trattoria was born. At first, they provided a simple menu of pizzas, pastas, and salads. Then they decided to change the menu to offer more upscale Italian dishes, and invested in a complete facelift as well. La Tratto was born, and was a complete success. People everywhere have always loved the idea of sidewalk dining, and La Tratto on Montejo proved to be no exception.

Dozens of restaurants in Mérida have come and gone over the years. The Trotter’s understand what many don’t: just having some good recipes and a desire to serve them to the public is not enough. Yes, the restaurant business is fun, but it definitely is not easy and comes with high risk. Owning and operating a restaurant has many facets: personnel, food supply, inventory, and more. Wayne and Paul feel that the biggest challenge is to maintain quality…it is like operating a theater, putting on a show every day. The staff are the actors, and the diners are the audience. The show has to be perfect every single day. Staff motivation and training is a huge part of their success, and they have one of the lowest staff turnovers in the business.

With a solid reputation behind them, the Trotter’s decided to make a bigger investment: in May of 2005, they opened Trotter’s on Circuito Colonias, celebrating their name and putting it to work for them. Steak, wines, and tapas are the theme, in a modern, upscale setting, with indoor tables facing a completely open wall to a spectacular patio seating area. Mérida diners were not disappointed, and the third restaurant is one of the city’s most popular.

And in 2010 they opened Bryan's Modern Grill, a modern, sophisticated restaurant in the popular north part of the city.

Pancho’s: Calle 59 No. 509 x 60 y 62, Centro. Tel. 923 0942.
La Tratto: Prolongación Montejo No. 479-C. Tel. 927 0434.
Trotter’s: Circuito Colonias x Calle 60 y Prolongación Montejo. Tel. 927 2320.
Bryan's Modern Grill, Av. Cámara de Comercio x 5 y 7, Fracc. Montecristo. tel. 948 2034.

www.trottersmerida.com

by Juanita Stein

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