Enchiladas Y Mas, a Tex-Mex favorite in North Austin for more than 20 years, closed in April after the coronavirus pandemic forced the retiring owners to prematurely call it quits. Now, much to the delight of its legion of fans, two nieces of the former owners are resurrecting the no-nonsense restaurant.
Mary Martinez, who co-owned Enchiladas Y Mas, tells CultureMap that her nieces Eva Hernandez and Carmen Hernandez — longtime managers at the restaurant — are taking over the business and plan to reopen it July 7. The lease for the modest space at 1911 W. Anderson Ln. was scheduled to expire this month.
In an April 19 post on Facebook, Mary Martinez and her husband, Robert, announced they had shuttered Enchiladas Y Mas after the city’s pandemic shutdown mandated a halt to dine-in service. The restaurant wasn’t able to make a go of it based only on takeout orders. Following its brief takeout-only test, Enchiladas Y Mas said in a March 23 Facebook post that it had closed until further notice.
The Hernandez sisters, daughters of former co-owner Roe Hernandez, are now assuming ownership of Enchiladas Y Mas following the restaurant’s more than two-month hiatus. Roe Hernandez died in January 2019.
In their goodbye Facebook post, the Martinezes promised that if the two sisters bought the restaurant, the duo would serve “the same food and margaritas that we’ve been offering all these years.” The restaurant opened in 1994.
On Facebook, the Martinezes thanked Enchiladas Y Mas customers for their “patronage, loyalty, and kindness.”
“Thank you for 26 wonderful years. It’s been an unbelievable experience,” the Martinezes wrote in April. “Our hearts are full of gratitude and some sadness.”
