Quinoa, a popular family-owned restaurant in downtown Doylestown, is set to close next month.
On Tuesday, its owners thanked their loyal customers, while announcing January would be the Peruvian-Mexican eatery’s final month in operation.
“It has been an honor to share our passion for food and culture with our incredible community, and we are beyond grateful for your support, loyalty, and love throughout the years,” its owners wrote on Quinoa’s Instagram and Facebook pages.
Quinoa was second in a line of three local Latin American restaurants opened by the family, who started with El Tule in Lambertville in 2011 when Peruvian immigrants, Carmen and Fausto Egoavil, partnered with their son-in-law, Said Anguiano, to create a menu based on the Peruvian recipes Carmen grew up with and Anguiano’s Mexican upbringing.
Carmen and Fausto’s son, Jack, and daughters, Mechelle and Sylvia, came on board as well, and El Tule quickly grew, leading them to expand into Bucks County with Quinoa, followed by the opening of Latin Pot in Dublin last year.
Over time, Quinoa established itself as a distinct part of Doylestown’s vibrant downtown dining scene, but it wasn’t without its challenges, particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic — which delivered a devastating blow to the family when 69-year-old Fausto died from the virus.
The business survived and thrived, however, shifting to curbside pickup, outside dining and adding takeout family meal specials to its menu during the pandemic, to come the other side even stronger than before.
Its success despite many trials along the way, made the decision to close a difficult one.
“It’s definitely something we didn’t expect to do so soon,” said Sylvia, who oversaw operations at Quinoa for several years. “We planned to stay there for the long run. But due to costs going up in operations, we had to make that hard decision to close Quinoa.”
As they head into their final weeks, however, they are looking for a potential buyer to pass along the Quinoa name and recipes on to.
“We would love for someone for continue it on and keep it going with the same passion we brought to Quinoa,” Sylvia said.
“It’s our heart and soul. It’s my mother’s recipes, my brother-in-law’s recipes. So, they would have to love the cuisine, the Peruvian side, the Mexican side. Ideally, it would be somebody who’s going to put the same love culture passion that we’ve put into our food.”
In the meantime, she said El Tule and Latin Pot will remain open, and many of the recipes people have enjoyed at Quinoa can be found at both of these locations.
“Our family’s going to keep going; we’re not going to end here,” she added. “So, whatever new adventure opens up, we’re going to take it.”
Reporter Michele Haddon covers local news, small business, food and drink, economic revitalization, art and culture for The Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times at PhillyBurbs.com. Please consider supporting local journalism with a subscription.
