In the corner of La Casa de Luchita’s dining room is a table set for two, complete with a white tablecloth, a bowl of dried black beans, white rice and a pitcher of water. Colorful calaveras — Day of the Dead skulls — are surrounded by bowls of dried beans and rice, flower vases and flickering candles, which shine on portraits of mother and son: Jorge Galindo and Maria de la Luz Galindo, aka “Luchita” herself.
The duo originally opened Luchita’s, a successful Mexican restaurant which ran for 40 years on West 117th Street in Cleveland, with a couple of other locations opening and closing over the decades. Luchita died in 2016; Jorge died in 2018.
Luchita’s flagship on 117th closed in 2022.
Reynaldo Galindo, Luchita’s youngest son who worked in the restaurant and currently helms Coyoacan Taqueria and Brewery, says the demand was strong to bring the beloved eatery back.
“We’d have five to six calls, every single day, on the telephone or calling me personally. ‘Are you gonna open up Luchita’s?’” Reynaldo says. “And I finally said, ‘Yep, let’s open Luchita’s.’”
The new restaurant opens on Friday. It’s a sister concept to Coyoacan, which opened in June and is in the same space as La Casa de Luchita’s, at 13133 Shaker Square. While Coyoacan offers quick-service to-go orders, La Casa de Luchita’s is a sit-down experience with plated entrees. You’ll find classics from the original Luchita’s menu and a rotating section of regionally influenced eats from various parts of Mexico.
The debut menu begins with a focus on Oaxacan delicacies, drawing on the region’s indigenous and Spanish influences, with a strong emphasis on moles. It includes the chamorro de puerco en manchamenteles ($22.99), a tender pork shank slathered in a savory chocolate mole, and the mero en amarillito ($27.99), a delicate cut of sea bass served in a lighter almond mole.
Every few months, the restaurant will rotate to another of Mexico's 32 states state. Reynaldo says to expect a shift to Puebla, then Veracruz. Each menu is informed by his travels across the country, working with local restaurants to perfect each selected dish.
“I went from state to state. If I liked the restaurant, then I asked, and then I’d come back and work with them,” he says. “I did whatever I could, as I learned the dishes, and then brought them back here.”
Meanwhile, La Casa de Luchita’s decades-old classics like enchiladas ($21.99), queso fundido ($15.99) and chiles rellenos ($22.99) will remain readily available through every menu shift.
Other members of Galindo’s family run the popular, ever-expanding Cilantro Taqueria chain, but he’s no longer involved. Instead, his focus is on Coyoacan and La Casa de Luchita’s. Coyoacan’s stainless steel brew tanks are visible behind glass windows inside the shared space, with plans to soon brew.
Unlike Cilantro’s major growth in Northeast Ohio, Reynaldo plans to keep La Casa de Luchita’s to just two locations: one on the East Side in Shaker Square, and one on the West Side. He says he’s currently considering spaces in Lakewood for the next location.
It won’t be too far away from the original, divey joint on the West Side of Cleveland that initially struggled when Luchita and Jorge opened it in 1981.
“People were not happy, because there was a neighborhood bar, and then we changed everything,” Reynaldo remembers. “We were struggling for about three years, because we had no tacos, no burritos — you know, [we had] authentic Mexican food.”
But Jorge and Luchita’s restaurant then got its footing, partly thanks to a well-timed appearance on Cleveland PM with Cathy Burgett, and gained traction and earned major fans in the local dining scene for its flavors.
The revival of that restaurant is simple for Reynaldo. “I don’t want people to forget my mom,” he says.
As the sun sets on the summer day, just a couple of days before the restaurant is set to open, light hits the restaurant’s window decal, carrying his mother’s name: La Casa de Luchita’s. Luchita’s House.
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