LAFAYETTE, IN — Fiscal year 2025 was the best on record for Mountain Jacks Steakhouse.
But despite the success owners Ed and Blanca Fauble have found along South Street, the couple are being forced to close the doors to the iconic Lafayette steakhouse.
Late last fall, Blanca Fauble said the couple were prepared to renew their lease with the property owner, Jeff Kessler, but were informed that he had no interest in renewing their lease. They said all they know is that a chain restaurant will replace theirs.
“There really was no option or conversation, it was just that he’d decided to go in a different direction,” she said. “As professionals and human beings, we respect that, because this isn’t our property, and people can do whatever they want with the property that they own, but it was just kind of a blow.”
Calls to Kessler about why he chose not to renew the lease for Mountain Jacks and plans for the property have not been returned.
Mountain Jacks Steakhouse has been a fixture along South Street and Indiana 26 for nearly 50 years. Ed got his start in the business working for the former corporate owners of the restaurant, helping to open and operate dozens of restaurants around the United States.
But when Ed was assigned to manage the Lafayette location, he said he knew he was “home.”
Ed, born in the Quad Cities in Iowa, and Blanca, originally from Lima, Peru, met at Iowa State University. Blanca said she can still recall the day Ed confided in her that he wanted to own a restaurant someday, while on a date in the late 1970s.
The couple were offered the opportunity to buy Mountain Jacks outright nearly 20 years ago, when it was then slated to close, Ed said.
“I don’t know if you want to say we saved it, but people tell me all the time and thank me for it as if we did,” Ed said. “We get a lot of those comments about the other restaurant we own in Dayton, Ohio, that we bought from the company, too. It’s a lot of, ‘Hey, thanks for keeping this place open.'”
Blanca said when she informed the staff Sunday that the restaurant will close, many tears and hugs were shared. They chose to wait to tell staff as they made it through the “busy” season for the restaurant, with major dining holidays making their way through the calendar such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and Purdue’s graduation.
“It’s about the culture we’ve created here. All of these people are friends, and they truly love what they do, and we have so much respect for our employees,” Blanca said. “They’ve contributed so much to our own success. We told them we weren’t going to hang a sign on the door and just let that be the end of this. We’re not going to do that to them.”
Job offers have been extended to every Mountain Jacks employee to work in their Dayton restaurant, Carver’s Steaks & Chops, Ed said. The couple has offered to help relocate any employees who wish to take them up on that offer or to help them find new jobs locally.
Blanca has also been informing some of the restaurant’s longtime customers. As word has spread about the restaurant’s fate, Blanca said some customers have begun reaching out to offer them opportunities to potentially build a new Mountain Jacks.
But the new location would have to stay in Lafayette.
“If we do something, we want to do something in Lafayette,” Blanca said. “This is where the need is, this is where our guests are, this is, you know … this is where this belongs.”
What’s contributed to Mountain Jacks’ success, Ed said, along with the high standard of service, are the prices. Everything is made from scratch and prepared fresh daily, even the famous salad wheels, which Blanca said with a laugh are not for sale.
“One of our philosophies has always been to offer value to the community,” Ed said. “We aren’t going to charge you $100 for a steak. We’re going to charge you around $30, but you’re going to get two sides and a soup or salad. You can make it enough that both you and the customer are happy, but you have to make it affordable for the community.”
The closure has saddened the Faubles and their employees.
“This experience, what we’re all going through, is like experiencing a death. It’s a loss,” Blanca said through tears. “I’m so grateful for our guests who are continuing to support us through this. They have provided us with so much love, not just now, but over the years. They’ve shared their lives with us, their experiences, and we love them all.”
Seated together at a table in one of the more private rooms of the restaurant, Ed said he and Blanca have always sought to make every customer’s experience at Mountain Jacks feel special, because every milestone celebrated is important.
Knowing that the time before the restaurant closes in the first week of June — there’s not yet a final date — could be some customers’ last meals at Mountain Jacks makes the abrupt closure that much harder.
“Somebody is taking their mother out for their last meal here, their last birthday,” Ed said, pausing to push through tears. “When you think about that every time you walk through these doors, you know you have to make every meal special, because this is where they chose to go.”
As the two pause to hold hands, Blanca said she has been holding onto a saying her mother used to emphasize during hard times.
“When a door closes, a panoramic window opens, and you’ve just got to be awake to see what’s beyond it,” Blanca said. “That part, being awake, is what we are praying for.”
Ed said they aren’t ready to retire. Ed said he would have continued working for several more years, ensuring the Mountain Jacks legacy lives on.
The couple hopes to rebuild a new restaurant in the coming year, though no plans are official. The majority of the restaurant’s decor, booths and stained glass will move into storage, with fixtures like the fireplaces noted for inclusion in future plans.
Should the Faubles decide to move forward with a new restaurant location, Ed said he hopes the community will continue to support them.
“We are so grateful for our customers, and I can’t imagine not seeing them every day. We’re going to miss them dearly,” Ed said, wiping his eyes. “If we do decide to open again, if the stars align for us in the next 12 months, we hope they come back.”
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette’s Mountain Jacks Steakhouse forced to close
Reporting by Jillian Ellison, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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