Dee Morales is back in the restaurant business. He opened El Jefe Bar & Grill in early October.

There’s a familiar face in the kitchen of a new eatery in the Town of Superior. Dee Morales quietly opened El Jefe Bar & Grill in early October after closing Bucktales Cantina & Grill in the city of Superior, 12 miles north. El Jefe operates out of the same building that served as the original Bucktales.

“I feel like I’m back home,” Morales said.

Morales and his wife Mary Ellen bought Bucktales in 2014 and quickly expanded the bar by building a small kitchen. Located at 6098 State Road 35, just north of Pattison State Park, it soon became a popular spot for Mexican cuisine. In 2022 they moved the business to the former Shorty’s Pizza & Smoked Meats space at 1015 Tower Ave. in Superior’s North End. Piglet’s Grill and Cantina operated at the original Bucktales location from October 2022 to August 2024.

At its second location, Bucktales incorporated Shorty’s staples — such as smoked meats and pizzas — into its menu, but Morales wasn’t happy with that arrangement. As a result, the menu at El Jefe now primarily serves Mexican foods such as tacos, burritos and chimichangas, though it also serves sandwiches and burgers.

“I didn’t want to keep doing the same because most people were expecting me to do the same,” Morales said. “It was time to move on, to do something different.”

The El Jefe logo is a caricature of owner Dee Morales, drawn by his wfie Mary Ellen.

Morales chose the name El Jefe because it was a nickname of his when he first started cooking in Superior. The logo of the restaurant was drawn by Mary Ellen and features Dee in a cowboy hat giving a painted thumbs up, an homage to Don McLean’s 1971 album American Pie, as Dee is a fan of the record’s title track.

Morales has always had a fondness for cooking, having decades of experience in the restaurant industry. Before Bucktales and El Jefe, he worked as a kitchen manager at Freight House in Stillwater. He has been featured multiple times on the Fox 21 TV segment Cooking Connection demonstrating how to make various recipes.

To Morales, the little things go a long way when determining a restaurant’s quality, which is why he chops his own fries, dices his own tomatoes and rigorously cleans his kitchen.

“I always say that when you cook, you gotta cook like you’re cooking for your family,” Morales said.

El Jefe Bar & Grill is located at 6098 State Road 35 in the Town of Superior.

Morales said locals are glad he’s back in the old Bucktales location, and he’s glad to be back.

“I missed bullshitting with people, talking with people, listening to people, familiar faces that I haven’t seen in a couple of years,” Morales said.

Following a successful couple of weeks back at his old stomping grounds, Morales feels grateful for returning visitors and is looking forward to the future.

“I appreciate the business from all of the customers and them giving me the chance to go back here and do what I do for a living — cook,” Morales said.