Hugo Miranda returns to the restaurant world as partner at Sophia’s Cocina y Cantina. From left to right: Miguel Reynaga, beverage experience manager; Hugo Miranda, co-owner and operator; Natalio Charles, executive chef; and Miguel Cavazos, co-owner.
Imelda García/Staff writer
After several years marked by the aftermath of a severe case of COVID-19, personal challenges and professional uncertainty, Hugo Miranda is back at the helm of a restaurant — as a partner at Sophia’s Cocina y Cantina.
Miranda is a longtime veteran of the Dallas-Fort Worth food scene who gained recognition with Hugo’s Invitados, the restaurant he co-founded in 2018 with an upscale Mexican cuisine concept.
Everything changed, though, a few years later. In 2021, Miranda became severely ill with COVID-19, which left him in a coma for three months and hospitalized for six.
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“I almost died,” he said. “I had to learn how to walk again, how to eat again, how to talk again.”
Sophia’s Cocina y Cantina is near the intersection of I-35 and I-635, providing relatively easy access from different parts of D-FW, including both airports and areas such as Las Colinas, Lewisville, Addison, Irving and Oak Lawn.
Imelda García/Staff writer
After returning to work that year, he continued to struggle with the effects of COVID-19, including fatigue, difficulty concentrating, anxiety and depression. He initially relied on an oxygen tank and wheelchair and found it difficult to return to his previous pace. Miranda left the restaurant group behind Hugo’s Invitados in 2023 after months of setbacks and challenges readjusting. The restaurant closed in 2025.
Miranda said he went through a long period of depression, anxiety and panic attacks. In recent years, he worked at restaurants including Carbone, Mar y Sol, Meso Maya and Chilangos Tacos while trying to rebuild his career. Until a few days ago, he wasn’t sure how he was going to pay his rent.
The opportunity at Sophia’s came unexpectedly. Aug. 16 was Miranda’s final day as operations lead at Chilangos Tacos. A day later, Miguel Cavazos approached him about the possibility of joining Sophia’s, in Farmers Branch.
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Cavazos, a restaurateur and businessman who opened Sophia’s earlier this year, also operates other concepts in D-FW, including Cabritos Los Cavazos and La Isla Sports Bar.
Three days later, they met to discuss the project, and by Aug. 21, Miranda was already working at the restaurant, where he is now a partner.
“A week ago, I didn’t have a job, and now I’m a partner in a restaurant,” Miranda said. “I’ve spent these days crying from the excitement. I still can’t believe it.”
He now sees the co-ownership opportunity at Sophia’s as a new beginning.
“It’s not about why God left me here, but what he left me here for,” Miranda said. “I know I’m here for a reason, and even though I still don’t know what it is, every day I work to find it.”
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The partnership with Cavazos combines Miranda’s restaurant experience with the investment and infrastructure already in place at Sophia’s. Miranda described his stake as “sweat equity”: He brings the work, creativity, industry knowledge and concept development, while Cavazos provides the capital.
Cavazos said the two have known each other for years and had previously discussed working together, but the timing had never lined up.
“And then suddenly,” Cavazos said, “everything fell into place.”
Hugo Miranda greets his daughter, Sophia, and son, Santiago, as he is released from Methodist Richardson Medical Center, after two and half months of battling COVID-19, Monday, March 15, 2021. Miranda spent several months in a rehab facility before going home.
Brandon Wade
A destination restaurant
Cavazos and Miranda want to turn Sophia’s into an upscale Mexican restaurant with an entirely gluten-free menu featuring dishes inspired by different regions of Mexico, along with techniques and flavors borrowed from other cuisines.
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“We want to be a destination restaurant,” Miranda said, “a place people will travel to just to come eat with us.”
The restaurant’s location, near the intersection of I-35 and I-635, provides relatively easy access from different parts of D-FW, including both airports and areas such as Las Colinas, Lewisville, Addison, Irving and Oak Lawn.
Miranda is developing the new menu with executive chef Natalio Charles, who has about three decades of experience and has worked with Mexican, Mediterranean, European, Italian and American concepts.
The bar was described as a “liquid kitchen,” with juices prepared daily, organic agave nectar and cocktails made to order.
Imelda García/Staff writer
Charles said the menu will draw from different regions of Mexico and evolve partially with the seasons. During the colder months, for example, it could include moles, red pozole and other heartier dishes.
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“It’s food inspired by Mexico,” Miranda said. “It could be a Japanese dish with Mexican ingredients, or a French dish with Mexican ingredients.”
Handmade corn tortillas will be one of the menu’s focal points. Miranda said he does not want to use commercially packaged flour tortillas and would add flour tortillas only if they find a version that meets their standards or can make them in-house.
They also plan to offer one or two weekend specials as a way to test new dishes before deciding whether to add them to the permanent menu.
The bar will be another important part of the new Sophia’s. Miranda describes it as a “liquid kitchen,” with juices prepared daily, organic agave nectar and cocktails made to order. The bar program will be led by beverage experience manager Miguel Reynaga.
The initial tequila and mezcal selection will be relatively small and focused on producers Miranda considers a strategic fit, including some with ties to North Texas.
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Sophia’s Cocina y Cantina was named after Cavazos’ daughter. Coincidentally, Miranda’s daughter is also named Sophia.
Imelda García/Staff writer
Sophia’s will remain open while the transition is completed, but Miranda said the revamped concept will be formally introduced in September. The restaurant plans a private event on Sept. 23 and a grand opening on Sept. 25.
Brunch will follow about two weeks later, initially offered Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The restaurant also has a patio overlooking the lake at the Mercer Crossing apartment complex. The team plans to make the patio climate-controlled so it can be used regardless of the season.
Sophia’s Cocina y Cantina is at 1980 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, Farmers Branch. sophiascocinaycantina.com.
Dining and Cooking