After a late-night run to Fiesta on Jefferson Monday night, we noticed a new business opening near Jefferson and Vernon: Doña Tota Gorditas. We got a little excited about that.

Doña Tota is like the Mexican McDonald’s. OK, well, McDonald’s is the Mexican McDonald’s. But Doña Tota is the queen of Mexico-based fast food chains. The company was started in 1952 by Carlotta Murillo and has grown to an empire of about 200 restaurants in 40 cities, according to the Doña Tota website. The gorditas at Doña Tota are more healthful than most; they are grilled, not fried, and filled with a choice of 12 fillings, including pork, chicken and beef stew.

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Doña Tota entered the U.S. Market in 2007 with a store in San Antonio. Now there are four other Doña Tota stores in South Texas, and it appears the store on Jefferson will be the first in this market. Now if we can just get a Taco Palenque.