Earlier this month, I reported that Valley legend, chef, and owner of Barrio Café, Silvana Salcido Esparza, was planning on opening the first of her two new restaurant concepts, the casual Barrio Queen Tequileria, by the end of the year -- just in time for its New Year's Eve party complete with a DJ spinning Cumbia beats, late-night menudo, and a 3 a.m. closing time.
Turns out things have gone better than planned and Esparza has announced she will open Barrio Queen on Monday, December 26, and that her second concept, the "Euro-Mexican" restaurant called Silvana Bistro, will open on New Year's Eve.
Barrio Queen will sit alongside Silvana Bistro in the SouthBridge space in Old Town Scottsdale that previously housed Metro Brasserie and will offer an all-day breakfast, bakery, several weekend specials, a happy hour and reverse happy hour, and over 350 kinds of tequila. Esparza's new restaurant will feature Mexican specialty dishes such as tlacoyos and red or green pork chile in addition to tamales, elotes, chiles rellenos, Mexican-style french fries, tortillas, blue and white corn masa quesadillas, cemitas, and tons of tacos.
Read on to see most of Barrio Queen's menu and to see what else Esparza has in store.
Esparza says she will add ice-cream to Barrio Queen soon and that she is currently designing a wood-burning stove and grill that should be ready in a month or so.
The second restaurant concept from Esparza, Silvana Bistro, does not yet have a menu. Esparza tells me she intends to release it a few days before the opening after she shops the farmers markets to see what they have on hand.
Barrio Queen 7114 East Stetson Drive, Scottsdale 480-656-4197 Hours: 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Thursday; 6 a.m. to 3 a.m., Friday and Saturday; 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday.
Barrio Queen Menu:
