Ahwatukee Los Dos Molinos Restaurant Liquidated; Other Three in Area Not Affected

Ahwatukee restaurant is liquidated through bankruptcy courts; restaurants in Phoenix and Mesa remain open.

April 17, 2018

Image: Los Dos Molinos' carne adovada enchiladas is one of its most popular dishes.

Los Dos Molinos' carne adovada enchiladas is one of its most popular dishes. Lauren Saria

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One of the four area Los Dos Molinos restaurants has been closed through a Chapter 7 liquidation, according to court documents filed last week, but the other three locations are not affected by the bankruptcy.

The Ahwatukee location filed for Chapter 11 last year and was shuttered last week after the court-appointed trustee determined there was "no hope for rehabilitation," according to Phoenix attorney Bradley Cosman, who represented the trustee.

A recorded message at the Ahwatukee restaurant said "it saddens me to say that we have closed this location," noting that the operators are looking to reopen elsewhere.

Cosman said the liquidation "doesn't affect any of the other restaurants." The Ahwatukee store had a different owner.

"Nothing has changed with us at all," said Sandy Melton, one of the owners of the other Los Dos Molinos eateries.

Two of popular Southwest restaurants are located in Phoenix – one on Camelback Road and one on South Central Avenue – and the third is in Mesa. The South Central restaurant is in the former ranch house of silent movie star Tom Mix.

The original Los Dos Molinos in Springerville closed earlier this year, Melton said, because her sister who operated it retired.

The restaurants are famous for their New Mexican red chiles and Hatch Valley green chiles.

"The spicy food here is downright legendary — just look at the countless magazine articles and framed Best Of awards that line the walls," a Phoenix New Times reviewer wrote several years ago

Stuart Warner was the editor of New Times from 2017 to 2019. He has been a journalist since the stoned ages of 1969, playing a major role on teams that won three Pulitzer Prizes. He is also the author of the biography JOCK: A Coach's Story.

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