On the heels of opening its newest Valley location on the southwest corner of 16th Street and Bethany Home Road, Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill has set its sights on a brand-new concept: tacos served up inside an old church.
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As part of a redevelopment project at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Osborn Road, the Scottsdale-based chain plans to retrofit a new restaurant, called Taco Guild, into a former 19th-century worship and education center.
Scheduled to open this fall, Taco Guild will feature an array of farm-to-table tacos as well as top-quality tequilas. The restaurant's atmosphere, a mix of modern and traditional, will keep certain elements of the church intact -- such as its 20-foot-high dark wood ceiling and support beams -- while repurposing others, including three large stained-glass windows.
"Sustainability was a key factor in determining a location and will be a recurring theme interwoven into every aspect of the restaurant," says Z'Tejas CEO Steven Micheletti. "We spent quite some time looking for the perfect spot knowing that we want to repurpose, not rebuild. With the vibrant neighborhood surrounding it, we feel that Taco Guild will add an energetic element to the midtown and central corridor atmosphere."
Fun fact: Two time capsules were recovered during inspections of the property -- one dating back to the building's 1893 construction and the second from a 1955 addition. Of historical significance were multiple Arizona newspapers and church related documents from 1893.
The Phoenix Business Journal reports that in addition to Taco Guild, the redeveloped area will house a Starbucks, also scheduled to open in the fall, as well as retail space and an art exhibit that will highlight the history of the property.
