Mexican Restaurant with Quesadilla Birria Pizzas Now Open

A Mexican restaurant is offering a new take on pizza.Photo byJesse CortezonUnsplash

Some restaurant spaces remain vacant for months if not years. Then, in the off chance a replacement venture opens, it typically doesn’t last long. There are restaurant dead zones all around the city. You probably can think of a few just off the top of your head. For whatever reason, the address has a curse on it, and nothing can survive. And then, there are other locations, where one restaurant fails and another is already opening up. There’s barely enough time to air out the new paint smell. That’s exactly what happened with a brand-new restaurant in Tempe.

Less than three weeks ago, Pronto, a Mexican restaurant located at 6440 South Rural Road closed. It lasted just a single year before the plug was pulled on the restaurant. And yet, less than three weeks later, in the same month the previous restaurant closed, another Mexican restaurant moved in to take its place. 

Tacos El Paisa is not a new commodity in the Valley. It has developed a strong following at its primary location of 1259 East Southern Avenue in Mesa. So, when the owners saw Pronto close, it decided to make the move and open another location. The previous restaurant was already set up, so it took minimal decorating and renovating to have it up and running. 

The one change is the restaurant has renamed itself Tradiciones Mexican Grill. The rebranding will take place at both locations. With the amount of restaurants coming and going, a sudden name swap may or may not prove beneficial. Especially with one day Pronto being there, the next day Tradiuciones Mexican Grill. Either way, the food brought over from the restaurant formerly known as Tacos El Paisa will be familiar. 

Open from 9 AM until 10 PM seven days a week, the restaurant offers everything from breakfast burritos to a Pizzabirria. The breakfast burritos (which are served all day), allow you to choose your style of egg, then you pick your desired protein, plus hashbrowns, potatoes, beans, sour cream, and pico. 

Specialties of the restaurant include Quesabirria with Consome. Quesabirria are a combination of hard shell tacos and quesadillas. The added firmness of the shell and buffer of the quesadilla layer make sit the perfect edible instrument for dipping into sauces. Meanwhile, the Pizzabirria is basically a pizza meets a birria taco with tortilla shells on the top and bottom. If you can’t decide between tacos and pizza, this might be the answer you’re looking for.