Longtime Fayetteville Mexican chain to close original restaurant, open a new one next door

After a 34-year run, a beloved local Mexican chain plans to close its original location and move to a new building — but it's not going far.

About a decade ago, tenants cleared out of the Tallywood Shopping Center on Raeford Road to make way for a redevelopment with Publix as its anchor. As a result, rumors swirled that the longtime Fayetteville Mexican restaurant chain Mi Casita’s original location in the shopping center would close.

But the restaurant stayed in the same location where owner Juan Macias first opened Mi Casita doors in 1990. Situated just a couple blocks east of the All-American Freeway, the flagship location spawned the local chain’s 17 restaurants in the city and beyond.

But the restaurant’s 20-year lease ends in October, said the owner's son, also named Juan Macias, and the family is building a new location on a 1.19-acre parcel next door at 3140 Raeford Road.

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The younger Macias Macias, 34, who noted he has worked in his father’s restaurants since he was a kid, said keeping a restaurant in the original area was important to accommodate longtime staff and customers.

“There’s a lot of familiar faces,” Macias said. “We want to keep them around.”

The new restaurant will continue the chain’s tradition of offering a place for families to gather around Mexican food without breaking the bank, Macias said, but there will be a few upgrades.

Among the plans for the 5,000-square-foot restaurant, which is about 2,000 square feet smaller than the original location, are modernized decor, a fully stocked bar at the center of the dining room, and a pickup window for online orders, he said.

Since the pandemic, about 30% of the restaurant's business is for food to go, Macias said.

"There's a lot more pickup than there was back in 1990," he said.

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The new location is slated to open at the end of the year, likely in November or December, Macias said.

Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at [email protected] or on Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville's Mi Casita to close Tallywood restaurant, reopen next door