The Guadalupe on Main opens Friday, replacing Casa Ramos Redux, a family-run Mexican restaurant that closed in August.
The new restaurant is helmed by Valley bartender Michael “Dirty Mike” Schreier and his life and business partner Alysia Gratton. The Guadalupe will continue to serve some of the Jalisco-inspired fare from Casa Ramos and grow to include modern twists on those flavors. The bar program will encompass craft mixology and unique wines from Mexico and South America.
“We want to keep that sort of flair, that spice,” Schreier says. “We put talented chefs in place to come modernize it.”
Schreier and Gratton live just a block from the restaurant, which is located on Main Street near Hunt Drive, a few miles east of Mesa’s burgeoning downtown. The couple wants to bring the downtown area's energetic, elevated experience further down Mesa’s main drag. It’s a mission echoed by the rest of the team, including chef Salim Council.
“The attention we’re going to bring here is going to be the game changer,” Council says.
The Guadalupe features Jalisco flair, craft cocktails
Council and fellow chefs Hannah Carpenter and Colin Burkhardt have been tasked with updating the menu, which will include shareable tapas-style dishes and larger entrees.Among opening menu items are street corn dip, mushroom calamari and crispy tacos dorados. Larger plates include fajitas, mole enchiladas and tampiquena – carne asada topped with baby shrimp and asadero cheese.
The Guadalupe will open with dinner service and the team aims to add lunch in October, followed by brunch.
The restaurant has the airy feel of an open-concept home. The main dining room sparkles with star-shaped lanterns, beamed ceilings and a rich, moody palette of grey and walnut.
The bar program will feature a selection of craft cocktails, but Schreier says the team’s specialty will be the dealer’s choice – where the bartender crafts a drink based on the guest’s preferred spirit and flavors.
“Nine times out of 10, I can look at somebody and I know exactly what they drink,” says Schreier, who has slung drinks around the Valley for a decade, most recently at Mesa haunts including 12 West Brewing Co. and Que Chevere.
Schreier has assembled peers he’s worked with along that journey to join him at The Guadalupe. That familiarity means the opening team of 10 is on the same page when it comes to their high expectations for hospitality. And, as longtime hospitality pros, Gratton and Schreier want to take care of their staff by offering profit-sharing.
The Guadalupe on Main replaces Casa Ramos Redux. The large dining room is akin to an open-concept home.
Sara Crocker
‘Golden opportunity’ to open The Guadalupe
Taking over Casa Ramos Redux is a “golden opportunity” that emerged earlier this year, Schreier says. It’s unique, too, because he and Gratton had a hand in the space long before they conceived the restaurant concept.Gratton ran Casa Ramos with her now ex-husband Kenny Ramos. The restaurant was open from 2011 to 2017. The restaurant was rebuilt as Casa Ramos Redux following a fire in 2020 and was open from 2023 until its closure in August.
When the restaurant was resurrected as Redux, Gratton helped design the new building and Schreier built the bar.
After 16 years in the restaurant industry, Ramos says he was ready for a change. He asked Gratton and Schreier to take the building over.
“The gut feeling came from me trusting her, because it’s not easy for me to let this go,” says Ramos, who is now a tattoo artist.
That passing of the torch is a win for both the previous and new owners.
“We’re all able to chase our dreams,” Gratton says.
Despite going their separate ways, Ramos and Gratton shared their mutual appreciation and respect for each other as they embark on these new journeys. Gratton and Schreier have memorialized their gratitude to the Ramos family for this opportunity by naming the forthcoming restaurant after its matriarch, Guadalupe.
“Without the Ramos family, this would not be possible,” Schreier says.
