A Mexican restaurant and beer bar in Toronto that had just opened early in 2020 has now permanently closed.

Raza made a valiant effort when the pandemic struck shortly after they opened, serving their own line of beer along with tacos and other Mexican dishes out of their front window that fully opened to Roncesvalles.

Sadly, they've now closed down like other restaurants in their Maiz family. Food loving Roncy residents won't have to wait long for the gap to be filled, though: a new concept is already opening in the Raza space.

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Sienna's will be an Italian restaurant from the people behind The Commoner, named for the owner Paul's three-year-old. They'll be serving some of her favourite dishes, like mozzarella sticks, stuffed peppers, meatballs, submarine sandwiches, pasta and chicken parm.

"We love the neighbourhood and have been looking to open another restaurant here for a while," Paul tells blogTO.

"COVID put a pause in the plan but as soon as we felt that things were close to getting back to normal we decided to move ahead. Our background is Italian and we want to share the food we grew up with."

Sienna's is projected to open sometime this summer.