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Beloved Longtime Rockland Restaurant Owner Dies At 79
The longtime owner of the El Bandido restaurants in Rockland, Orange and Essex counties, died on Friday, April 6 surrounded by his family at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. He was 79.
Santiago Manuel Tello, a 20 year resident of Upper Saddle River, was born May 1, 1938, in Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico and emigrated to the U.S. in the mid-70's.
Known as "Manny," to all, he moved to the U.S. seeking the American dream and found it by opening El Bandido Restaurant in Spring Valley in 1976, with his friend Leonardo Weiner.
After launching El Bandido in Spring Valley, Tello added restauran…
