A new Mexican restaurant called Boca Brava, which means “brave mouth” or “fierce mouth” in Spanish, plans to take over part of the former Reza’s Restaurant and Lounge space at 1557 Sherman Ave. Reza’s closed in May 2025.
Owner Carlos Arechiga, 31, has signed a lease for the southern portion of the property, which he estimated to be about 7,000 of the space’s 10,000 square feet.
Arechiga lives in Aurora, Illinois, but when he came across the space, he knew it was the one for his business.
“I fell in love with the city of Evanston,” Arechiga said. “Just the area, how alive it is.”
Arechiga grew up in the Chicago area and has worked in Mexican restaurants alongside his father his whole life.
“Since I could walk he had me working in the restaurant,” Arechiga said.
Arechiga’s father started working in restaurants himself when he came to the United States from Mexico at 16, Arechiga said. By 30, his father had opened his first restaurant. Arechiga’s father still owns two restaurants along Route 59 in Illinois: Friacos Mexican Restaurant Cantina in Joliet and Friaco’s Mexican Restaurant in Naperville.
At about the same age, Arechiga plans to do the same. Although Arechiga has worked in his father’s restaurants for years, this will be his first solo project.
His restaurant will seat about 200 people and focus on traditional Mexican cuisine, including tacos, burritos and enchiladas. He also hopes to incorporate dishes from some of Mexico’s major cities, such as Guadalajara and Mexico City, with help from other chefs, he said.
But Arechiga still has some steps ahead of him before Boca Brava is ready to open.
Because the space is being split in two, the front entrance will have to be relocated, he said. He is looking for an architect and completing a permit application for the city. His goal, though, is to open in January or February 2027.
Arechiga filed a food license application with the city Sept. 18, according to city records.
“From what I understand, it’s going to be a stylish, upscale Mexican restaurant,” Andy Vick, executive director of Downtown Evanston, told the RoundTable. “I think that sounds like a great addition to the current mix of restaurants in downtown Evanston.”
Giordano’s is still planning to move into the other side of the space, Arechiga said. Councilmember Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th Ward) first announced the pizza chain’s planned return in December 2025.
Reza’s also shuttered its original location in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood in 2023 after 40 years. Its location in Oak Brook, Illinois, at 40 N. Tower Road, remains open.
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