The current Tempe Macayo's is located on Scottsdale Road just south of the Loop 202. That restaurant will close on Jan. 31.
A new location, situated in the Cornerstone shopping center on Rural Road just north of University Drive, is scheduled to open in mid-February.
Macayo's story began in 1946, and over the decades, the concept expanded to become a chain with restaurants spread throughout the Valley. The Mexican restaurant has been a staple of Tempe for years, albeit in different locations. Macayo's Depot Cantina inhabited the historic train depot near Ash Avenue and Third Street from 1991 to 2020. In 2019, the company was sold, first to Kind Hospitality and later to Horizon Hospitality.
The Scottsdale Road restaurant opened in 2020, continuing Macayo's presence in Tempe as an option available to Arizona State University students and families. The restaurant will close at the end of this month, as its five-year lease comes to an end, according to a news release from the company.
The upcoming location on Rural Road will be even closer to the university campus.
“With more convenient entry and exit points and additional guest parking, our new ASU Tempe site makes it extremely easy for students to visit from campus and guests to visit from all over town,” Lucas Farnham, CEO of Horizon Hospitality said in the release. “We are excited to open with not only an open floorplan where you can feel the energy from door to door but also introduce an intimate patio adjacent to campus, for guests to enjoy outdoor dining.”
The company is currently hiring to staff up the new spot, and looking for line cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, bussers, bartenders, servers and hosts. A hiring fair with on-site interviews is planned for Jan. 13 to Jan. 15. The hiring fair will take place at the new restaurant location from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 13 and 14, and from 2 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 15.
Macayo's Mexican Food
Opening mid-February715 S. Rural Road, Tempe
