Macayo’s, the legacy institution of Mexican comfort food that’s served Arizonans for more than 70 years, is gearing up to open another outpost in a new development on the corner of Vistancia Blvd and El Mirage Rd.
A representative of Macayo’s was not able to provide a comment on the restaurant’s proposed opening when contacted by What Now Phoenix.
The origins of Macayo’s dates back to 1946, when original founders Woody and Victoria Johnson opened a small restaurant dubbed Woody’s El Nido in Phoenix. The company remained in the family for the next seven years while enjoying steady growth and increasing popularity both in the Arizona and beyond. Daughter Sharisse Johnson stepped up as CEO in 2007, however, in 2019 the brand was sold to Mesa-based restaurant group, Kind Hospitality, which continues to operate it today.
At the time, Sharisse Johnson told The Republic, “We all started working at a very young age, and as my brothers enter retirement, we are happy to be passing the torch to another local family business who we are confident will continue to uphold our Macayo traditions and honor our heritage.”
And according to the same article, journalist Lauren Saria writes, “The company’s biggest claim to fame may be that founder Woody Johnson invented the chimichanga in the late 1940s, when he accidentally dropped a burrito into a deep fryer,” though a restaurant in Tucson apparently “disputes the claim.”
