5 family-owned Mexican restaurants that have stood the test of time
Phoenix has no shortage of options when it comes to Mexican food. These five family-owned restaurants have stood the test of time.
The Republic
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Without knowing a thing about being in the kitchen, Claudia Castro, her husband, three children and grandchildren decided to become entrepreneurs and fulfill their lifelong dream: own a restaurant.
Castro saw that dream come true in July 2016 when she opened Mi Nietos Cocina Mexicana — formerly named Mi Cocina Mexicana — in Avondale, in the West Valley.
Mi Nietos Cocina is a cozy restaurant, where you can take in a homely atmosphere from the moment you enter. Sure you’ll find the dishes they offer at many Mexican restaurants across the Valley, but that homely Sonoran seasoning delivered in every bite is what sets Castro’s restaurant apart — from their breakfast huevos a la Mexicana to the red and green chilaquiles with a side of delicious pork beans and handmade tortillas.
She’s lost money while on this venture, but having to start from scratch doesn’t scare her. The native of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, has faced each failure as a learning experience.
“When the pandemic hit, it was very difficult. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore, but when you want something, I’ve learned that… cry, kick, but keep going and the doors will open for you. I have a lot of faith in God,” Castro said in an interview with The Arizona Republic.
Stepping into the kitchen
Born in Sonora and raised in the northern state of Sinaloa, Castro made her way to Phoenix for the first time in 1999.
Shortly after arriving in Phoenix, her father-in-law fell ill and died, so she, along with her husband and youngest son, returned to Ciudad Obregon to bury him. Because she did not have the paperwork to legally re-enter the U.S., she stayed behind while her husband returned to their home in the Valley where he would care for their three children, two daughters and a son.
She moved to Nogales where she had additional family and started working at a taco shop owned by some cousins. “After I saw the taco shop I said, ‘I can have this,’” Castro recalled.
In 2003, Castro returned to Phoenix, where she has lived with her family for over 20 years.
Once back in Phoenix, she didn’t immediately jump on the restaurant idea, but she spent 14 years working at a factory saving up for what would be their first shot at their own place.
In 2016, with over a decade’s worth of savings and the sale of their home — which they had bought as an investment for the business — Castro and her family opened their first restaurant near Indian School Road and 107th Avenue, inside Westwind Plaza in Avondale.
The entire family participated in that grand opening. At the time, the restaurant operated from two joint locations in the same plaza where they offered sushi, made by one of her daughters, and had karaoke and a bar.
It wasn’t until her ex-mother-in-law, who operated a food truck, suggested that she make and sell burritos that she started getting more involved. Within a few months, the restaurant was offering birria, menudo and various Mexican breakfast dishes.
“She told me to put the enchiladas suizas on the menu. She gave me the recipe,” said Castro, adding “that’s where I started the business.”
Soon, the entire concept switched from sushi to Mexican food, pulling from recipes from her childhood and folks she knew across the Valley.
“I started to discover food. Now, wherever I went I would listen. I was at work and they were saying a recipe and I listened and wrote down all the recipes.”
During the pandemic, Castro and her family were forced to downsize and shift to only one location in the plaza.
Although the place is now smaller, the seasoning remains the same.
Homemade flavor and from the heart
Castro said she had never tried chilaquiles, but she came up with her own recipe and made it a customer favorite.
Lupita and Manny Cabral have celebrated birthdays, special meals and even their granddaughter’s baby shower at the restaurant. “The food is good in every way. The menudo, the salsa, everything is delicious. The proof is that we have been coming back for eight years,” said Manny Cabral.
He highlighted the treatment of the staff and the owner, but above all the homemade flavor in their dishes.
“We come for the menudo on Saturdays or Sundays. But everything is good. The menudo is very delicious. The pork beans, the food is homemade, the flavor is homemade, you go to another place and it is not homemade. The food really gets 10 points,” he added.
Castro doesn’t believe herself to be the best chef in the Valley, nor has she won an important culinary award, but she said she puts her heart into each dish she makes, waiting to see that smile on her customers’ faces when they try them.
“Nothing has given me the satisfaction that this has given me. It is priceless,” she said.
Details: Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 10575 W. Indian School Rd., Avondale. 623-877-3673.
Have story tips on Latino culture and cuisine in the Valley? Reach La Voz reporter Nadia Cantú at nadia.cantu@lavozarizona.com.