Calaveras back open in Kendall Whittier after more than 2 years

October 12, 2022 at 2:39 pm CDT

TULSA, Okla. — If you’ve been to the Tulsa Farmers Market you’ve likely noticed the corner Mexican restaurant closed month after month, year after year.

Calaveras Mexican Grill was closed for about two and a half years, transitioning at first to take out only during the pandemic. Soon after, the restaurant utilized their food truck as well, booking events such as Mayfest and Dia De Los Muertos.

“The food truck visits allowed us to greatly expand our brand and clientele in Tulsa,” said David Molina, owner of Calaveras.

The shift also allowed for remodels to the kitchen and dining area of the brick-and-mortar location near Admiral and Lewis, which has been there since 2014.

Molina said they started planning to return to the physical restaurant at the beginning of this year but ran into several setbacks, like most of the country, with staffing. They also had events and festivals they had already committed to with the food truck.

Calaveras finally reopened Sept. 29.

“The reception our first day back was very strong thankfully, " Molina said thankfully. “We weren’t sure initially what sort of response we might get...”

Since that day, Molina says they have served around 2,500 people and they are seeing an increase in foot traffic as they go.

They also made the change to start serving breakfast on weekends to coincide with the Tulsa Farmers Market.