Mi Barrio Mexican restaurant to close in Grant Park after 21 years

Mi Barrio will close on Nov. 16 after 21 years on Memorial Drive in Grant Park, according to a Facebook post over the weekend . Owners Jesus and Martha Lopez plan to retire.

The family-owned and operated Mexican restaurant started out as a cottage food business 26 years ago, run out of the Lopez’s home kitchen in a Latino enclave of Grant Park once referred to as “Taco Town”. In 2003, the couple took over the modest one-story restaurant building on Memorial Drive across from Oakland Cemetery where it became known for comforting homestyle Mexican dishes, tacos, and strong margaritas.

The survival of legacy businesses like Mi Barrio along this stretch of Memorial has been a growing concern for nearly a decade.

Rumors that Mi Barrio might be in trouble began circulating on social media late last week following a post by the restaurant showing an empty parking lot on a Friday night. “On a Friday!! Empty parking lot. NO BUENO. Support small businesses,” the post read.

These concerns aren’t unfounded.

Major redevelopment and revitalization projects on Memorial, from Hill Street in Grant Park to Moreland Avenue in East Atlanta, continue bringing in new restaurants and businesses to the area. Skyrocketing property values and rent hikes due to the multi-million dollar reinvestment by developers up and down Memorial — much of it linked to the Beltline — threaten to push out longtime residents and small, independent businesses like Mi Barrio.

Both new and old restaurants have struggled to keep pace with the rapid redevelopment of Memorial Drive.

In 2022, Wonderkid closed after three years at Atlanta Dairies a half mile east of Mi Barrio. Coffee shop and cat adoption center Java Cats Cafe also closed after five years in 2022 just three blocks west of the Mexican restaurant, followed by Tin Lizzy’s Cantina in 2023. The Tex-Mex restaurant and bar operated for 14 years from the same Memorial Drive retail strip as Java Cats. Nearby, the Grant Park location of Farm Burger closed earlier this year, having lasted only six years on Memorial.

One block west of Mi Barrio, Larkin on Memorial saw restaurants Full Commission and Woodward and Park close in 2023. The two restaurants were open for less than five years. Perc Coffee took over the Full Commission space.

Birdcage, the new restaurant from Firepit Pizza Tavern chefs Leslie Cohen and Shaun Whitmer, opened in January at the Larkin. The Memorial Drive retail complex officially debuted in 2017 with a mix of businesses and restaurants, including Grant Park Market, Firepit Pizza Tavern, Kale Me Crazy, and Ramen Station.

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