🚧 Rene Andrade, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind acclaimed Phoenix restaurants Bacanora and Huarachis Taqueria, is opening a third Mexican restaurant in Phoenix.
Lupe is under construction near the southwest corner of 16th Street and Thomas. If the location seems vaguely familiar, there’s a good reason – it’s the building formerly home to the beloved Barrio Cafe.
Launched by chef Silvana Salcido Esparza and Wendy Gruber in 2002, Barrio Cafe became one of Phoenix’s most honored restaurants, and Esparza became a seven-time Beard semifinalist for Best Chef Southwest.
Esparza closed Barrio Cafe in 2024, the year she was named a Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Chef in the nation.
Andrade, who won Best Chef Southwest in 2024, has released no information about Lupe yet.
According to Lupe’s liquor license application, the 2,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 46 people inside, six at a bar, and 26 on the patio.
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