Crazy For Mexican Food? Locally Owned Valle Luna Lunatics Has Opened

A family-owned Mexican restaurant has moved in.Photo byZoshua ColahonUnsplash

Restaurants fail for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes it’s a collection. Sometimes it’s the food, but more often than not it is the location or marketing or the lack of available capital to make it through the first few years of operation. Usually, when a restaurant goes belly up another will swoop in and take its place. It’s simply too complicated (and expensive) to rip out all the kitchen equipment and retrofit it for something else. While restaurants taking the place of other restaurants isn’t out of the ordinary, the same kind of restaurant moving in is. It is also exactly what happened in Phoenix, as a new Mexican restaurant just moved into a vacated spot left over from a closed Mexican restaurant.

Only a few months ago, Mi Familia Mexican Food closed its restaurant inside the Happy Valley Center at 25155 North 67th Avenue (Suite 138). Across the street from Fry’s, Circle K, and a handful of other restaurants, the family-operated Mexican restaurant pulled up stakes to focus on its other restaurants around the Valley. Those who enjoy family-operated Mexican restaurants might have mourned the loss of the restaurant, but the all-new Valle Luna Lunatics is here to fill the needs of anyone hungry for cantina-style Mexican food.

Also from a family-owned and operated brand, Valle Luna Lunatics is a smaller variation of the Valle Luna restaurants spread around greater Phoenix. This is a player in the Mexican food industry around greater Phoenix, as it has called the area home for forty years. The brand rarely expands, as, despite its longevity, there were only three other locations until the newest. Valle Luna Lunatics will be the smaller version, as the square footage itself is limited. However, this shouldn’t limit the flavor. So, if you’ve come to enjoy the other three locations, this should be a welcome addition.

The restaurant officially opened on the first of August. Its announcement on Facebook received nearly 1,000 likes, which is impressive as the Facebook profile isn’t updated all that frequently.

The restaurant will feature several burritos, grilled asada plates, classic dinner combos, American plates (burger, slider, fried chicken, and a cheeseburger), plus there are several desserts, including churro bites. The menu is slightly abbreviated from what you would find at one of the larger Valle Luna locations, but whether you’re done shopping over at Fry’s or you’re in the neighborhood and just feel like a bite to eat, stop by the Happy Valley Center and the all-new Valle Luna Lunatics restaurant.