Food Fight Over Recipes Not Quite Over Yet

The legal battle over recipes between Gloria's and Mario Sabino's restaurants has reared its legal head again.  This, after Sabino’s lawyers filed a request for sanctions to be paid them by Gloria’s for filing, what they call, a frivolous lawsuit.

Last year, the owners of Gloria's accused a former manager of stealing their recipes for bean dip, ceviche and margaritas and serving them at Mario Sabino's.

In court documents, Gloria and Jose Fuentes, the owners of Gloria's, said the restaurant Mario Sabino's is serving secret recipes that took them 10 years of extensive research and international travel to create.

In the lawsuit, the Fuentes said their recipes for bean dip and orange roughy ceviche are so top secret, they are not even written down.

Mario Alfaro, a former Gloria's manager, opened Mario Sabino's on Lemmon Avenue, across the Dallas North Tollway from Gloria's.

A judge ruled in August that Gloria's does not have a case against Mario Sabino's, and now Sabino’s wants Gloria’s to pay for the trouble.

An actual monetary value has not been set, Sabino’s lawyer Bob Bucholz told NBCDFW.com Tuesday.  That is up to a judge to decide.  That is, if she accepts the case. 

A hearing Monday was reset indefinitely.  When contacted for comment attorneys for Gloria's said both parities involved in the case are under a gag order, and cannot comment.

Background information from previous reports by NBCDFW's Ellen Goldberg and Elvira Sakmari used in this report.

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