Acclaimed Valley chef Silvana Salcido Esparza is closing Barrio Urbano, her two-year-old restaurant at Sam Fox’s The Yard complex on Seventh Street and Montebello in north central Phoenix.
Salcido Esparza made the announcement herself with a lengthy Facebook explanation, citing several factors, including a lack of control, a questionable location, high rent, and her own ongoing health concerns.
Salcido Esparza, who was diagnosed with the inflammatory disease sarcoidosis last year, is best known for her two award-winning restaurants: Barrio Cafe on 16th Street in Phoenix and Barrio Café Gran Reserva on Grand Avenue in west Phoenix.
With the closure of Barrio Urbano – Thursday is its last day – those will be the only two she has.
(She was hired to create and launch the Barrio Queen concept, which has locations in north Scottsdale, Gilbert, and Sky Harbor, but she only has a small stake in the airport one.)
Pointing to the growing number of Valley restaurants with ‘‘barrio’’ names or themes,Salcido Esparza says she is working on a new healthy-eating concept simply called Nopalero.
