An acclaimed NC restaurant has opened a new location in Durham. Here’s what to know
An acclaimed North Carolina restaurant brand is expanding into Durham with its first Triangle location.
The Mexican restaurant Fonda Lupita opened in Durham’s Brightleaf Square this week, launching a new counter restaurant on Main Street. Fonda Lupita grabbed local and regional headlines in 2021 when the online food publication Eater declared its tiny Sanford spot one of the country’s best new restaurants.
Owned by sisters Biridiana and Alondra Frausto, Fonda Lupita became a notable destination for authentic Mexican dishes including particularly crispy, airy griddled gorditas filled with stews; quesabirria tacos; and weekend menudo. The recipes are based on those cooked by the restaurant’s namesake, Lupita, the Frausto sisters’ mother.
Soon diners were driving from the Triangle to Sanford to sample the menu, and Fonda Lupita outgrew its tiny space. Eventually the restaurant moved to a larger location in Sanford and recently reopened the original spot as the seafood-centric Maricos No. Juan.
The new Fonda Lupita is counter service, plus a row of bar seating. The menu mirrors the Sanford original, including newer additions like birria ramen, empanadas and tortas.
The Durham Fonda Lupita is the second new restaurant to open in a changing Brightleaf Square. Last year the Greek taverna Nikos opened from Giorgios Bakatsias and two others are still in the works: a relocated Zweli’s Kitchen and Emmy Squared.
Hours: Fonda Lupita is open seven days a week, starting at 11 a.m.
How Fonda Lupita believed in itself and became NC’s most acclaimed new restaurant
