Scottsdale-based Barrio Queen will soon have a new owner now that an acquisition by BBQ Holdings Inc., the Minnesota-based parent company of Famous Dave's, is in the works.
BBQ Holdings signed a purchase agreement last week for Barrio Queen, a Mexican restaurant chain with seven Valley locations – with at least one more coming this year. The $28 million acquisition is expected to close within 45 days. The deal will be funded with cash and debt, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We are thrilled to pass the baton to the BBQ Holdings team and couldn't be more proud of what we have built," Linda Nash, the co-owner of Barrio Queen, said in a statement. "The success of these restaurants is the result of many years of hard work and dedication from the Barrio team. We are confident the transition will be smooth and seamless thanks to Anish Gandhi and his team at Brookwood Associates, who advised on the transaction.”
Barrio Queen was founded in 2011 by Nash, her husband Steve Rosenfield and award-winning chef Silvana Salcido Esparza. The partnership had a somewhat public falling out and Esparza left the company. Since then Barrio Queen has continued to grow, building large restaurants from the ground up with custom architecture at each location.
