Restaurants & Food in Tempe, AZ

Cocina Chiwas

Tempe, AZ

Welcome to Cocina Chiwas, our love letter to Chihuahua, the northern Mexican state where we both grew up before our families brought us to Arizona as kids. We are Armando Hernandez and Nadia Holguin, and our story started with a single conversation at an ASU party, when we discovered we shared the same roots and the same dream of opening a restaurant one day. In 2016 we chased that dream with fifty dollars in our checking account and a little taco shop called Tacos Chiwas. People believed in us, Phoenix embraced us, and that first counter grew into a family of restaurants across the Valley. Cocina Chiwas is the fullest expression of where we come from. We opened these doors as the culinary anchor of Culdesac, a walkable neighborhood in Tempe, to serve regional Chihuahuan cooking the way we remember it: familiar yet unexpected, traditional yet modern, with a little bit of Arizona woven in. Our kitchen leans on wood fire, house-made masa, and the flavors of the Sierra and the high desert, from tender braises to salsas built layer by layer. Chihuahua is cattle country, chile country, and comfort-food country, and you will taste all of that on the plate. As a chef couple, we have poured our heritage and our marriage into this place, and it means the world to us that our work has been recognized, from James Beard consideration to being named one of USA Today's best new restaurants of 2024. But the honors we care about most are the regulars who become friends and the first-timers who leave planning their next visit. Our dining room is warm, unpretentious, and made for lingering, whether you are here for a weeknight dinner, a celebration, or happy hour with people you love. We built Cocina Chiwas to be a place where everyone feels at home, and we are proud to be a woman co-owned kitchen led by Nadia alongside Armando. Come hungry, come curious, and let us share the food, the culture, and the hospitality of Chihuahua with you. From our family to your table, gracias for pulling up a chair.