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George Mahe |

“The day has finally come,” quips Natasha Kwan, co-owner of Diego’s Mexican restaurant which opens tomorrow, “It only took 22 months.”

Planning a restaurant, especially retrofitting an exciting one, is never easy because of the unknowns, “and there were a lot of them,” says Kwan regarding the former Momo’s Ouzaria Taverna. “Our plan was to keep the walk-in and the hood, move the bar, do a little painting, and open the doors. Little did we know there was a disaster behind every wall. Contractors told us ‘it was the top two of the worst projects they’d ever seen.’” Then in the middle of the prolongation, along came COVID-19.

A house specialty, queso flameado (think: Mexican saganaki) with roasted chilis, is an homage to Chuck Paner, the late owner of Momo’s, the previous restaurant in the space.