Carolina’s Mexican Food, a well-established Mexican restaurant that has been around for decades, is preparing to open a new location in Chandler at 1972 N Alma School Rd.
The company’s new location is set to replace Pork on of Fork in the Pollack Warner Plaza, according to COO Brian Jones. He tells What Now Phoenix that the new Chandler location will be the first time a restaurant features a drive-through. The new Carolina’s Mexican Food is expected to open before the end of the year, while an exact opening date has yet to be determined. When the new location opens, customers can expect the same delicious Mexican food that the family-owned restaurant has served for over half a century.
Manuel and Carolina Valenzuela founded Carolina’s in the 1950s, making homemade tortillas, burritos, and tamales, selling them out of the back seat of the family car at wrestling matches and to migrant workers in the fields, according to the company’s website. Since then, the company has moved around, expanded, and passed down to generations of family members, who continue to operate the business today through two branches of the family. Together, the families own six different locations throughout the Valley. The company’s only other East Valley location opened in Mesa in 2017.
“Carolina C. Valenzuela passed in May 2002, but her legacy lives on,” according to the company’s website. “Since her passing, the Carolina’s brand has expanded by [several] restaurants. Also, the FIFTH family generation has commenced work with the restaurants. Carolina’s Mexican Food continues to serve the best Mexican food in the southwest to thousands of satisfied customers who frequent the Valley locations from all across the state and nation. Thanks to the foundation left by Manuel and Carolina and continued by four consecutive generations, the best is yet to come!”
