Mochilero Kitchen, offering family-owned authentic Mexican cuisine, expands to north Scottsdale

PHOENIX — Mochilero Kitchen, a family-owned Mexican restaurant, will soon open a north Scottsdale location featuring popular and traditional dishes from south of the border.

Brother and sister duo Jorge Cota and Meliza Miranda, siblings with combined decades of experience in food and drink, are the owners and operators. Cota served in chef roles at the Ritz Carlton, Phoenician and JW Marriott. Miranda spent more than a decade working in the beverage industry as a state manager for Constellation Brands.

At Mochilero, the food is made to order, with Miranda in back of the house, focusing on flavor profiles and dishes like his Classic Mole, a southern Mexico dish his grandmother served.

The pair was inspired after Cota took a food-based research trip to Mexico in 2019 when he visited 23 of the 32 different states.

“We went with the mission to get inspired so we could take the most popular and traditional dishes you find in those coastal towns and bring them home,” said Cota. “Here we’re able to put our own twist on the dishes and really create something special.”

Other specialties at Mochilero Kitchen are the variations of tacos, including a vegetarian mushroom taco and the Mariscos, a raw seafood offering cooked in lime juice.

“These are the most authentic and savory dishes you will find from the different various regions of Mexico,” said Miranda. “When you combine our cuisine with the atmosphere, I think we have created something that has a very traditional warm feeling and is family friendly, and timeless all at the same time.”

The restaurant will open for lunch starting at 11 a.m. with the dinner menu starting at 3 p.m. seven days a week.

The Scottsdale restaurant will also be looking to hire 60 new employees for its new location in the coming weeks and a job fair is planned for May. Visit the restaurant website for more information.

Mochilero Kitchen in north Scottsdale is located at 14850 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., unit 117 Scottsdale.

The first Mochilero Kitchen opened in Peoria in April of 2020, just as the pandemic was hitting.

“It was tough start, but we went day-by-day and in the end, we persevered and learned a lot during those three years,” said Miranda. “Never did I think we would be opening our second location this soon but the response has been tremendous and we are so excited to show Scottsdale diners what our vibrant and authentic Mexican cuisine is all about.”

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