Beloved owner, operator of MS Coast restaurant dies at 67. ‘This was like a home to him’
For years, Gulfport residents used a lonesome Tex-Mex restaurant as an identifying landmark, describing things as north or south of the small building known as Taco Sombrero.
These days, that part of U.S. 49 has six-lanes with plenty of other businesses dotting the street’s sides and it serves as Orange Grove’s main road to and from the Coast.
Taco Sombrero stands in the same place. It’s survived a number of hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic and has expanded to two more Coast locations, one of them a franchise.
But after 44 years of managing and growing Taco Sombrero, the restaurant’s owner-operator, Lynn Parkhill, died last month. He was 67.
“He was an icon, a legend who loved his customers,” Vicki Parkhill said, Lynn’s wife of 28 years. “He was perfect for Taco Sombrero. He made Taco Sombrero what it is today.”
Vicki said Lynn preferred managing the Gulfport location from behind the front cash register. That’s where he could catch up and check on customers and staff, maintaining a conversation years in the making.
Lynn’s final visit to the restaurant was last week, two days before he died. He’d insisted on going there because he felt well that day, Vicki said, and wanted to say hello to his customers and employees.
“He knew his customers’ names,” Vicki said. “This was like a home to him. He grew to love each and every one of them.”
Vicki said that energy extended to the restaurant’s staff. She said Lynn would joke and nickname his employees (usually after their silly mistakes). And for many of those staff, “Mr. Lynn” was their first boss. As such, Vicki said, he was deliberate to inspire a work ethic but not at the cost of taking priority of younger employees’ grades in school. He was happy to make exceptions for band and football practice.
Vicki said they’ve been running the restaurant long enough that grandchildren of some of their very first employees are now punching in.
Customers and employees alike have come to Vicki’s comfort. At the moment, she can’t visit Taco Sombrero’s Gulfport location without receiving a hug and kind words.
Online, she said, she’s received an overwhelming number of messages expressing gratitude for Lynn and his impact on the community.
She’s carrying on, but it’s hard, she said. Vicki is the restaurant’s voice on social media.
Robert Parkhill died from complications with his heart, his wife said. He was on Hospice care. And though he grew up in Abilene, Texas, Vicki said, Lynn was indistinguishable from a Coast native.
He moved to the Coast and co-founded the first iteration of Taco Sombrero in 1979 before relocating a few years later to the restaurant’s current spot. He quickly grew to love where he’d moved but came originally to open a Tex-Mex restaurant in a place that didn’t yet have one. Over the years, the restaurant has become known for its signature hot sauce and made-in-house recipes.
Lynn officially retired a few months before his death but made routine visits to the restaurant. He liked his work, Vicki said, and wouldn’t work anywhere else. She said he looked forward to it.
He is succeeded by his wife, four children, five grandchildren, two brothers and plenty of customers he thought of as family, Vicki added.
Two of the children, Tyler and David Parkhill, now work as Taco Sombrero managers and that their transition has been smooth. . Lynn started teaching them restauranteering when they were preteens, Vicki said.
A funeral visitation will be held at the Church at Windance in Gulfport from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and a service will begin thereafter, according to the Riemann Funeral Home.
This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
