As the city of Tempe grew, so did La Fonda. It doubled in size in 1985 when a neighboring suite became available. We loved working with her. She would come in at night to close the restaurant and would love to have her flan and coffee while she played Pacman. Our grandma passed away suddenly in 1995, leaving the restaurant to our parents, Ray and Janet Pedraza. They took over and ran it with the help of myself, my sister and 2 brothers. In 2004 we opened a South Chandler location till 2010. In 2011 we received notice informing us of plans to demolish the shopping center where the original La Fonda was located. After 45 years in business we closed the doors in April 2012 at the original location. We moved the restaurant to a freestanding building on Baseline and McClintock in Tempe, which we opened in July of 2012.

My sister and I helped our parents operate that location. As time went by my sister and I knew our parents would retire soon and started to think if we would continue on. We loved it, but through Covid it was very difficult and we almost gave up. Our landlord sold the property in 2020 and it was going to be demolished and a gas station would be built. My sister and I decided to push on and keep it going. We looked for several months for a new location. We wanted to go back to a small cozy restaurant like how grandma started it. We found the perfect location in Chandler. My sister and I worked hard, with the help of our husbands, to get it open and running to celebrate our 55th Anniversary. We opened La Fonda Chandler March of 2022. It is something we both love and work very hard keeping her tradition alive. You can find us working everyday at the restaurant and now have even begun the 4th generation with us. Our grandma’s picture hangs in the restaurant where we can smile at her each day.