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BUSINESS
THE MESA TRIBUNE | MARCH 6, 2022
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El Charro celebrates milestone but owner frets over its future BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer
T
hough its name changed years ago, El Charro Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge has remained in the same family for a century, but challenges hold its future in jeopardy. Eva Orta owns the Mesa restaurant and oversees the daily operations. Her grandfather, Florentino Munoz, opened a restaurant, Little Palace Cafe, in 1922 after moving to Mesa from San Angelo, Texas and brought with him a taste of the Lone Star State. That cuisine was adopted by
the restaurant that Orta’s father, Alfred “Freddie” Munoz, opened on First Street and Country Club Drive in downtown in 1958. “We’ve worked hard to make our part here in Mesa,” she said. “There was a lot of prejudice then and so he worked hard to be part of the city.” On Feb. 18, when the Downtown Mesa Association and the City of Mesa recognized 10 businesses that have existed for 50 years or longer in downtown, Eva accepted the award. El Charro was the oldest of all the businesses honored at the ceremony. Mayor John Giles said that in 1996, when the city planned to
purchase a lot of the business in the area to widen the streets, it purposely avoided the restaurant to protect it. “There’s no way they were knocking down El Charro because back then, there would have been pitchforks and torches,” he said.
see CHARRO page 21
Eva Orta, owner of El Charro Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge, is flanked by Councilwoman Jenn Duff and Mayor John Giles during a ceremony honoring businesses that have been downtown for more than 50 years. Hers is the oldest. (Josh Ortega/Tribune Staff Writer)
Mesa woman’s new business delivers food to pets TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
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rom a 25-year career as a 911 operator for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Anna Baum has started a new career as a small-business operator that’s a kind of UberEats for pets. The Mesa woman owns a franchise for Pet Wants Gilbert North, a mobile petfood delivery that specializes in smallbatch-produced healthy food and treats for dogs and cats. Her new gig – serving virtually the entire Valley – is giving her a chance to exercise what she learned in her pre-DPS career as a food-service manager as well as an opportunity to own her own pet again without feeling guilty about leaving it alone while she works. “I grew up with dogs, cats, horses, cows, chickens and goats,” Baum explained. “I was never without a faithful dog until my last two died a little over two years ago. Due to my long hours as a 911 communi-
I retired.” Now the owner of cat – which she said “acts as close to a dog as a cat can get” – Baum delivers food ordered online from a 7-year-old Cincinnati, Ohio, company started by two women who began making food for their dog after discovering large producers’ food actually made their pet sick. Besides selling multiple blends of dog and cat food that the company says contains high-quality proteins and never uses added sugar, fillers, animal by-products, corn, wheat, soy or dyes, Pet Wants also sells healing salve, calming balm, anti-itch spray and paw wax. Along with having a job that Anna Baum, pictured here with her cat Lucy, operates doesn’t require the long hours a mobile pet food delivery service. (Special to Tribune) of 911 operator, Baum said her cation manager with DPS, I did not get an- food-delivery service fulfills another postother dog. I felt it was better to wait until retirement goal.
”I wanted something that was interactive with the community doing something I loved,” she said. “I found Pet Wants and it was exactly what I was looking for. I could interact with the community in a capacity I had a passion for – animals and health and wellness.” She undertook training last month “on the various kinds of pet food, ingredients and how supplements can be helpful, the various kinds of afflictions pets can have and how food can make such a big difference in how pets behave and how long they live. “I practice preventive care for myself so it was a natural fit to extend that to talking about good food for your pets,” she added. That training enables her to help customers make the right choices when they peruse the various kinds of food offered on Pet Wants’ website. “I can work with them and share infor-
see PET FOOD page 21
