Las Cuatro Milpas, which closed its restaurant doors a couple of months ago, is coming back to life in Barrio Logan, just blocks away from the Logan Avenue spot it occupied for nine decades.
The family-owned business — and the commercial broker for the space — confirmed Monday that the storied restaurant will reopen in the former home of the now-closed Liberty Call Distilling, located in the Mercado del Barrio retail and residential complex.
Las Cuatro Milpas co-owner Margarita Hernandez said she’s hopeful that the new location on National Avenue will be open to the public by the end of next month. She’s excited, she says, about the prospect of the restaurant coming back to life, given its long-standing tenure in the neighborhood since 1933.
“I have a couple more years, I guess,” she chuckled. “I’ll be 79 next month.”
A steady lunch crowd line forms at Las Cuatro Milpas in Barrio Logan, which closed at the end of 2025. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Beloved for its homemade flour tortillas and classic Mexican fare, Las Cuatro Milpas over the weekend posted on Instagram that it was one step closer to reopening soon, news that triggered dozens of comments from joyous fans of the restaurant. While an interior shot of its apparent new spot accompanied the post, a location was not revealed.
Broker Gino Kalasho of Commercial Asset Advisors, who worked with Las Cuatro Milpas in securing the new space, said Monday that the family was a delight to work with and that the other retail tenants at Mercado del Barrio are excited about the prospect of having the restaurant as a new neighbor. The former Liberty Call space, which has a roll-up glass door and a 400-square-foot patio, is about 2,800 square feet.
“They’re a pleasure to work with, they’re super nice, and we are so excited for them to be there,” said Kalasho, whose father and uncle own the commercial portion of the Mercado del Barrio property, excluding Northgate Gonzalez Market. “Their new location is only a chip shot away from where they were, and there’s a view of the Coronado Bridge.
“The next two months will be about personalizing the space, with maybe some minor upgrades. They want to give it a clean look and touch it up with their own colors. This had been a restaurant with a kitchen intact. The most important thing is the hood, but underneath they’ll have to bring in stoves to accommodate their style of cooking, also a walk-in fridge and a three-compartment sink, like what’s required by the health department.”
Interior of the former Liberfy Call Distilling in Mercado del Barrio. (Commercial Asset Advisors)
Kalasho said he expects the new Las Cuatro Milpas to reopen within 45 to 60 days.
The revival of the Barrio Logan icon comes a little more than three months after the family-owned property was sold for $2.2 million to Iglesia del Dios Vivo Columna Inc., the owner of the Light of the World Church and the land on which it sits. It’s located next door to the restaurant’s former location.
Long before the Las Cuatro Milpas real estate was put up for sale, both the business and the property had incurred significant tax debt for several years. As of last July, it owed $60,000 in county property taxes and $130,000 in other tax liens, including $103,000 in unpaid sales tax owed to the state of California. Since the sale, however, the property taxes have been fully paid off, the county Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office has confirmed.
“From what I understand, they took care of both the property and sales taxes after they got the proceeds from their sale,” Kalasho said.
Sophia Estudillo (lt) and Erica Gonzalez (rt) mix and prepare fresh flour tortillas at Las Cuatro Milpas. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Hernandez said she is hoping that many of the restaurant employees return to work, including her own family members. Her role has been to check customers out at the cash register. She said there will likely be someone who will help her with that at the new location.
“We have people working there with us, but I don’t know who’s coming back yet,” Hernandez said. “I am trying to get the girls back.”
With the sale of its Barrio Logan real estate, the family should have no trouble making rent payments and keeping up to date with required tax payments, Kalasho said.
“They’re strong now, they have a couple million dollars even after paying what they owed,” he said. “They just realized, what are we doing, why aren’t we staying in business? They’re excited to start this new chapter and have the family back working together.”