Northwest Tucson’s longtime Casa Sanchez restaurant closing | Business News

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Stevi and Rey Sanchez Jr. are closing their 24-year-old family business Casa Sanchez on June 19th.

Rick Wiley Photos, Arizona Daily Star

After the family, who run the Mexican restaurant Casa Sanchez-Mom in the northwest, served the house’s special Carne Asada and the “Sanchez-style” burritos popular with fans after 24 years, they gave it up.

The restaurant at 8320 N. Thornydale Road will close on June 19, six months before the lease expires.

“It was inevitable that we’d sell it or close the doors in late December anyway,” said Rey Sanchez Jr., whose family has run Tucson’s Casa Sanchez and Sanchez Burrito restaurants since 1983.

But when the pandemic forced the restaurant to turn on carry and curb, it started a well-known downward spiral. Business collapsed dramatically, Sanchez said, and they had to lay off their employees. He and his wife Stevi and two of their seven children – son Trey and daughter Lilli – tried to keep the restaurant afloat.

When the pandemic restrictions eased and they were allowed to reopen their dining room, they couldn’t find enough help. The family interfered, but there was so much they could do that the restaurant had to cut its opening hours.

Stevi Sanchez (right) is hugged by a stream of customers complaining about the closure of the Casa Sanchez restaurant, 8320 N. Thornydale Road.

Rick Wiley, Arizona Daily Star

And then Sanchez’s health went downhill a few months ago, he said. He is being treated for heart problems and has not been able to help as much as he would like.

“Because of the health problems and downturn in business, we decided not to wait” for the lease to expire in December, Sanchez said.

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