Pancho's Cantina Is Opening in Wilmington

A Mexican restaurant is on its way to an area by Route 93 that has very few full-service dining options.

According to a Craigslist job post, Pancho's Cantina is opening in Wilmington and is now hiring for a variety of positions as it gets ready to open "soon." The post says that the Ballardvale Street eatery will feature Cal-Mex fare along with cocktails, while an earlier Wilmington Apple article mentioned that one of the principal owners (Elisandro "Dan" Chavez) is also one of the people behind Casa Blanca in Andover and North Andover.

Currently, the only dining options in the immediate area (Route 125 near the Route 93 exit) are takeout/counter service spots including Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Sweet Pizza, and Modash Cafe.

The address for this upcoming Mexican restaurant in Wilmington is: Pancho's Cantina, 206 Ballardvale Street, Wilmington, MA, 01887.

[March 26, 2018 update: A Facebook post from the place indicates that Pancho's Cantina plans to open for dinner on April 27, with regular hours expected to start on April 28.]

[April 25, 2018 update: A new Facebook post indicates that the opening of Pancho's Cantina has been delayed, with the note saying that "due to issues within the corporation that have now been resolved, we have been pushed back another week or so."]

[April 28, 2018 update: An update from the place indicates that Pancho's Cantina is now looking to open in two weeks.]

[May 22, 2018 update: A new update from the restaurant gives an apparent reason why the opening of Pancho's has been delayed--the post says that the restaurant started out with three business partners and now is down to one, with the sole remaining owner saying that "I, Chef Fonzi, has had to buy out the other 2 partners and I have had to play catch-up and continue to get this restaurant opened on my own. Please bear with me as I am in the final stages of getting Pancho's Cantina opened...."]

[August 15, 2018 update: According to a source, Pancho's Cantina has soft-opened, with a comment from the restaurant within a Facebook thread confirming that it is indeed open from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM each day this week.]

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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Update: Sagra in Dedham Has Closed; Grumpy Cactus Bar and Grill Falls Through

[Ed note: This article has been updated on June 24, as it appears that the plans for Sagra to be replaced by Grumpy Cactus have fallen through.]

A little more than two months after the Somerville location of an Italian restaurant closed, it has been announced that its Dedham location has closed as well, and plans for a Cal-Mex dining spot to replace it are no longer in place.

According to an earlier job post within the Craigslist site, Sagra on Washington Street was going to be changed to a new place called Grumpy Cactus Bar and Grill. The post indicated that Grumpy Cactus was to feature live entertainment nightly, and an earlier Dedham Patch article mentioned that the owner of the planned eatery had been hoping to have pool tables as well, with the Board of Selectmen deciding on whether they would allow this in a meeting in early June. According to a more recent Dedham Patch article, the owner couldn't afford to pay for the lease while waiting for a decision from the town, so he did not show up to the meeting and the board did not bother with the matter.

The original Sagra on Highland Avenue in Somerville's Davis Square closed in March after being in business for about four years. (It is going to be replaced by a new spot called Five Horses Tavern.) The Sagra in Dedham opened last spring, moving into the space where a location of Finz Seafood and Grill had been.

The address for the now-closed Sagra was: Sagra, 910 Washington Street, Dedham, MA, 02026.

Thanks to a couple of our emailers for letting us know about this story.

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