For more than 20 years, Rigoβs Restaurant was a fixture of South Fourth Avenue and a haunt for local politicians who "chewed the fat" over plates of refried beans and Sonoran carne asada. But the restaurant is now permanently closed, after owner Rigoberto βRigoβ Lopez says he was forced out by a private lender.
Known for its mariachi performances and daily Mexican buffet, the South Tucson restaurant suffered hard when the COVID pandemic hit and was unsuccessful in its attempts to transition to takeout. It served its last meal Jan. 8 when private lender Patty Kunz took possession of the building during the early lunch service, Lopez says.
The property was foreclosed and sold in a public auction that day for almost $194,000, data from the Pima County Recorderβs Office shows. Kunz successfully bid on the property at the foreclosure auction.
A sign on the door posted Jan. 10 said the restaurant was βtemporarily closed for two weeks,β but the restaurant has not reopened and Lopez says he no longer has access to the building. Attempts to reach Patty Kunz, who Lopez was paying mortgage to, were unsuccessful.
Lopez says he fell three months behind on mortgage payments after having to close for three months during the pandemic. The restaurant shifted to takeout-only in April, but Lopez says that was not a viable strategy for Rigoβs, where 80 percent of the customers would go for the buffet.
βI sold about $65 worth of food each day,β he said. βAnd I had a person on the phone taking orders and two people in the kitchen and I couldnβt even pay them their hours.β
Once Lopez was able to reopen in July, county regulations capped his capacity at 50 percent, affecting his business significantly, he says. He didnβt bring back the buffet until September, adapting it to CDC guidelines by adding plexiglass around the buffet and having an employee serve customers at a six-foot distance.
But none of the adjustments were enough to save his restaurant. He says he owed Kunz $9,000 for the months of October through December.
In January, Lopez owed less than $88,700 of the propertyβs $180,000 mortgage.
Lopez had been running the restaurant at 2527 S. Fourth Ave. since 2000, and said he was on track to pay it off in seven years. As business grew over the years, he opened two more Rigoβs locations in Benson and Tucsonβs northside. He had to close the northside location this summer after a decade of service at 5851 N. Oracle Road, and now Lopez is currently making the trek out to Benson six days a week to work the kitchen at his remaining restaurant.
Lopez moved to Tucson 35 years ago from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. He started working as a dishwasher at another South Fourth Avenue staple Michaβs and moved his way up into the kitchen. Before opening his own restaurant, he also managed the original location of Sonoran hot dog masters El GΓΌero Canelo.
βIβve worked really hard, really hard here in the United States,β he said.
On the day Kunz forced him out, he says he lost thousands of dollars in food costs because he had just received his product shipment for the weekend. She seized everything in the restaurant, including the furniture and cooking equipment. He says wants to hire a lawyer, but doesnβt have enough money.
βI was left with nothing,β he said. βAnd in debt.β
Lopez isnβt sure heβll ever open another Rigoβs in Tucson, but whatever he decides, he says heβs going to have to start from the bottom again, whether itβs in finding a job like he did when he first moved to the U.S., or starting his own business.
βIβm going to start from zero,β he said, adding that he's going to take a break before he plans his next move.
He says heβs been stressed and depressed since he lost his restaurant, but heβs also grateful he had the opportunity to serve people from all walks of life in his 21 years running Rigo's.
βIβm so thankful to all of my clients at Rigoβs who did me the favor of giving me the opportunity to serve them,β he said.
Heβs also thankful for his employees, some of whom have worked for him since 2000 when it opened.
From its beginning, the original Rigoβs location played an informal but important role in Pima County politics. It was a haunt for local democrats like U.S. Rep. RaΓΊl Grijalva, former Arizona governor Janet Napolitano and former County Supervisor RamΓ³n Valadez, who even had a plate named after him on the menu. Up until the time of COVID, various politicos would get together every Wednesday for lunch in a group hosted by Rigoβs enthusiast and South Tucson politician Dan Eckstrom. Over the years, attendees included names like Sharon Bronson, Richard ElΓas and Regina Romero, Eckstrom said.Β
βThere was never an agenda. We just sat there and BS'ed. It was just a friendly get-together, we never talked policy issues,β Eckstrom said. βI bought (lunch) the first time, and then the new person bought, and then weβd rotate through the group. Sometimes somebody would be there having lunch and they saw us, and weβd invite them to join us. And they didnβt know they were going to have to pay.β
The former mayor of South Tucson and longtime County Board of Supervisors member ate at Rigoβs so much, he was immortalized in the Dan Eckstrom special, which was a βmassive saladβ with carne asada, chicken or even tuna. (Eckstrom said he ordered it once while he was trying to eat healthy, and soon afterward people started going in there and asking for it.) For Eckstromβs retirement party at Rigoβs in 2003, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry created a fake movie poster of βThe Godfatherβ with Eckstromβs head over Marlon Brandoβs body. The poster was then hung on the wall at Rigoβs.
βI feel pretty bad for Rigo and his family, because heβs a tremendous guy, a very caring, a very giving person. I remember being there when somebody would come outside and they were hungry. He never let them go hungry, he always gave them something to eat,β Eckstrom said. βBut I think Rigo will make a comeback because his heart is in the right place. And Iβm hoping that when he does, that all the friends that he befriended when he was in that business will come back to him. β¦ Heβs a bright guy, heβs a good businessperson, and unfortunately he was a victim of this pandemic. Good people get hurt in this thing, and heβs one of them.β
Eckstrom also remembers one fateful day in January of 2012, when βa miracle happened at Rigoβs.β The Mexican restaurant was a popular event space for the community, and Eckstrom was helping to organize an event with the-then UA Athletics director Greg Byrne and UA baseball coach Andy Lopez.
βWe used to have a lot of people from the faith community. I called up a sister and asked her to give an invocation, just a little blessing. And she said this year, Coach Lopez is going to win the College World Series. That was in January of 2012. In June of 2012, he went to the College World Series and he won it β¦ There was a lot of good that came out of (Rigoβs), a lot of information. And I think thatβs something that the community is going to desperately miss.β