A new Mexican restaurant called Cielo Rojo is getting ready to debut next month in Phoenix, located at 1919 N. 16th St.
This is the newest concept from the Maldonado family, who has run the mainstay coastal Mexican restaurant Mariscos Playa Hermosa for over two decades. Now, the company is getting even closer, recently obtaining a liquor license to open in the former home of La Santisima Gourmet Taco Shop. Cielo Rojo, which means red sky in Spanish, is expected to open sometime next month, according to the Phoenix New Times, although an exact opening date has yet to be established.
When the new restaurant opens near 16th Street and Palm Lane in a few weeks, customers can expect cuisines from Guanajuato, where the Maldonado family is from, and Oaxaca. The menu will feature a variety of options, including red Mexican rice, hand-made tortillas, enchiladas, carne apache, and a 21-ingredient mole. The family will also use the restaurant to introduce vegetarian and vegan options, such as a squash-blossom quesadilla, and brunch on Sundays, with options like pumpkin French toast and chilaquiles.
“There’s not enough mainland Mexican culture represented,” Owner Emmanuell Maldonado tells Phoenix New Times, “That’s our goal is to bring a bit of home and a bit Oaxaca to Phoenix, and if we do that in the way that we’re preparing to do it, I believe it will be a success, God-willing of course. It’s going to be as authentic as you can get. It depends on where you’re from, so if you’re from Oaxaca, you’re used to that sweet but spice(y), and if you’re from down south like our family, it’s more spice than sweet, but we’re trying to make something universal.”
