West St. Paul Restaurant Owner Charged With Tax Crimes, Owes $260,000

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The owner of a West St. Paul restaurant was charged with 11 counts of tax fraud in Dakota County District Court on Tuesday. Claudia Gutierrez Mendez, who owns Hamburguesas El Gordo—with locations in West St. Paul, Minneapolis, and St. Paul—allegedly owes more than $260,000.

According to the criminal complaint, Gutierrez Mendez effectively charged customers sales tax and kept the money. Gutierrez Mendez did not report sales from third-party delivery services, did not file mandated monthly sales tax returns, and did not make sales tax payments. She’s charged with filing a false or fraudulent tax return, failure to file a tax return, and failure to pay taxes between 2018 and 2023. All charges are felonies.

The complaint says Gutierrez Mendez “told investigators she made a lot of different mistakes in different areas when operating her businesses.”

Hamburguesas El Gordo had been a success story touted by the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD) in their Open to Business program. A 2021 MCCD video featured Gutierrez Mendez.

At this time, Gutierrez Mendez hasn’t responded to media requests for comment and Hamburguesas El Gordo locations are still open for business. Her first court appearance is scheduled for June 18.

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