“For years, my Michael Bauer was the abuelita. I didn't care about any food critics at all because our success was seeing a grandma or seeing two generations sit down and eating.”

Over the course of their run, Dominguez says the margins for running a restaurant have gotten very small. “I have no more margins,” he says frankly.

Beyond that, he describes the work as taxing not just financially but morally. “I should be paying 30 dollars an hour for people who do tamale work and I can't do it because it's economically impossible. For them to have to work three or four jobs, it's taxing on one's morals.”

With the last day of service coming up on November 30, Tamarindo will close out the year with mezcal tastings and parties serving up less common tacos and other foods that their diners have finally caught up to.

“We're going to be doing events all of December and have fun and use the space other than service. We might even do a quinceanera because we're 15,” says Dominguez.