Mamacita’s Restaurante y Cantina, a local haunt in Boulder’s University Hill district, will close this week after more than 20 years in business, and a Latin-inspired eatery will open next year in its place, according to the owners.

The new owners of the restaurant, at 1149 13th St., plan to host a “Farewell Fiesta” on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to allow longtime patrons to pay homage to Mamacita’s, said Toula Georgakopoulos, general manager. The days will include food and drink specials in addition to opportunities to donate to Community Food Share.

“I know since it’s been here for so long, it’s part of a lot of people’s memories in the community,” she said.

In the weeks since her friends and business partners Mike and Evey Caravello purchased Mamacita’s, Georgakopoulos said customers and Boulder residents have shared their memories of the Hill restaurant and provided some suggestions as to what worked and what didn’t work through recent ownership changes.

Opened by the Epstein family in 1993, the 1,300-square-foot Mamacita’s had two additional owners prior to the Caravellos’ purchase.

“It has been done before,” she said of Mamacita’s. “And based on the feedback from the community … they’re looking for something new on the Hill, so we’re listening.”

After the upcoming “fiesta,” Mamacita’s will close and undergo a renovation during the winter holidays. The new eatery, which will be a Latin-inspired casual dining restaurant featuring international influences and fare such as street tacos, is expected to open after the new year, said Mike Caravello.

The new restaurant — the name has not yet been revealed — will be designed and priced to appeal to a broad swath of the Boulder community, including students, neighboring families, local residents and tourists, he said.

“We really tried to form this concept to the area, the space, the local student body,” he said. “We’re excited to see how it goes over, fits in and becomes part of the community.”

Mike Caravello’s CD+C, a Chicago-based design business, and Evey Caravello’s interior design firm AEN Designs have created for a variety of restaurants in and around the Chicago area. The Caravellos partnered with Georgakopoulos, whose restaurant experience has included serving as the private dining manager for the Untitled Supper Club in Chicago and running restaurants in Greece and Canada.

Georgakopoulos said she and her friends gravitated toward Boulder because of the region’s inherent beauty and friendly populace.

After working in the 18,000-square-foot Untitled Supper Club, a restaurant and lounge boasting a trove of whiskey selections, Georgakopoulos said she loved the idea of running a small restaurant in the Mamacita’s location and bringing to life another “gem.”

“I hope that people will embrace something new here on the Hill,” she said. “It’s a cute little area. We’re happy that we’re going to be a part of livening it up.”

Alicia Wallace: 303-473-1332, wallacea@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/dc_alicia