Oaxaca Restaurant and Cantina Re-Opening Next Week

It's been just over a month since Oaxaca Restaurant and Cantina, the downtown Phoenix eatery and 30-year-plus landmark near the state Capitol, closed and its former owners, the Verdugo family, forced to go through a trustee sale. But starting at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jose Martinez, Vice President of Chicanos...

By Laura Hahnefeld

September 30, 2011

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It's been just over a month since Oaxaca Restaurant and Cantina, the downtown Phoenix eatery and 30-year-plus landmark near the state Capitol, closed and its former owners, the Verdugo family, forced to go through a trustee sale.

But starting at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jose Martinez, Vice President of Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc., the lender of the original owners, tells me Oaxaca is back in business as a bank-owned property.

"We'll be open for lunch and gradually build up to regular operating hours," Martinez says of Oaxaca's temporary 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. schedule. "And we've hired back everyone who re-applied, so regular customers will recognize some of the same faces."

In addition to keeping the same menu (with a few new specials to be announced at a later date), Martinez adds his company plans to formally list Oaxaca for sale after operating it for a period of three months.

"We're happy people can enjoy Oaxaca again," Martinez says. "The calabacitas are back!"

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