🇲🇽 Barrio Cafe, one of Phoenix’s most acclaimed restaurants for more than two decades, is closing in the coming weeks.
Owner and chef Silvana Salcido Esparza tells the Arizona Republic the closure will happen between the end of March and mid-April.
(Update: Esparza now says Barrio Cafe will remain open until June 1.)
‘‘I gave you guys 22 years,’’ she says. ‘‘I hope you came.’’
The history
Esparza and Wendy Gruber launched Barrio Cafe near the southwest corner of 16th Street and Thomas in 2002. The elevated Mexican regional dishes quickly drew accolades locally and nationally.
Esparza is a seven-time James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef Southwest. Last year she was a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in the nation.
Along the way she has been an outspoken supporter for the rights of immigrants, Latinos, and the LGBTQ+.
What’s next?
Esparza, who suffers from the inflammatory disease sarcoidosis, says she will retain ownership of restaurant’s building, using rent payments to help support Barrio Cafe’s employees while they look for new jobs.
Her autobiography, “La Hija de la Chingada: Chronicles of a Mexican Chef in the U.S.A.,” goes on presale May 5.
