Antonio Reynoso

Antonio Reynoso believed in family dinners, delicious food and the people he loved gathered around one table, no matter how crowded.

It is that feeling Antonio and his wife, Roberta, captured when they opened their restaurant, Casa Reynoso at Mill and Southern avenues in Tempe, welcoming and feeding generations of families since 1984.

Antonio continued a family tradition started in 1938 when his aunt, Josephine Picazo opened El Rey Cafe in Miami, Arizona, her sisters – including Antonio’s mother, Salustia Reynoso - joining her later, that has grown to include 13 family-owned restaurants in Arizona, plus a food truck.

Antonio and Roberta wanted their restaurant, decorated with family photos and vestiges of Mexican ranch life — hand-tooled saddles, ropes and steer horns – serving hearty chile plates, homestyle combination platters, and salsa so good customers sometimes drink it, to feel like home.

Their cooking earned Antonio and Roberta an invitation from Arizona Senators John McCain and Dennis DeConcini to feed the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. in 1989. Antonio was thrilled, flying his family, staff and a thousand pounds of fixings to the nation’s capital to make their specialties, including the famous Gollo Burro, savory pork, roasted green chiles, onions and pinto beans wrapped in a buttery flour tortilla.

Antonio was fiercely patriotic, a gentleman who held open doors for others, a devout Catholic dedicated to his patron St. James, a hard worker, and a man of his word. He loved horses, the feel of a lasso in his hands, road trips to Mexico, his adopted hometown of Tempe, and his family.

Antonio was a good-looking man – and an unabashed charmer, joking and flashing his dimples - but there was no doubt who held his heart. Antonio deeply loved his wife of 60 years, Roberta Reynoso.

She was at his side when Antonio died at home on February 21, 2023, surrounded by family. He was 81.

Antonio was born on June 13, 1941, in Buena Vista, Moyahua, Zacatecas, Mexico, the second youngest of seven children of Salustia Rodriguez Reynoso and Pedro Reynoso.

Antonio grew up in the Globe-Miami area in Arizona, though his family frequently returned to their hometown in Mexico, including an annual pilgrimage for the Feast of St. James to pay homage to Santo Santiago, the town’s patron saint.

He instilled that same appreciation of the family’s origins in his children, taking them on frequent road trips to Mexico, warming burros wrapped in foil on the engine as they drove and telling stories like a tour guide.

As a child, Antonio remembered his family living in a dilapidated shack on a hill behind his Aunt Josephine Picazo’s El Rey Café in Miami, where his mother worked. It was a happy childhood, playing with siblings and cousins and attending Mass on Sundays.

His family wasn’t rich – Antonio remembers sharing a pair of shoes with his siblings – but they had each other, and that was what mattered most.

In 1947, his mother opened La Casita Café in Globe, and his family moved into rooms above the restaurant, the nearby creek the kids’ playground for splashing about and picnics.

Antonio enlisted in the U.S. Army on Nov. 26, 1956, at the age of just 15, using an altered birth certificate that showed him as 17.

While Antonio’s good looks meant he was sought after by many women in his hometown in Mexico, he had eyes for only one woman, Roberta. He rode up on horseback to her family’s ranch and asked her father for permission to court her.

Antonio and Roberta married on August 4, 1962. They started their family, which grew to include eight children.

Roberta lived with her mother-in-law in Globe until Antonio left the Army at 22 on June 26, 1964, honorably discharged as a Sergeant E-5 with commendations for sharpshooting and good conduct.

Antonio worked in the mines in the area until 1968 when Antonio and Roberta moved their family to San Fernando Valley, California, where they ran a landscaping business, most of their clients in swanky Beverly Hills, and Antonio also worked as a machinist at Bendix Corporation.

It was in California that Antonio got involved in the Mexican rodeo scene, or charrería, a striking figure in traditional charro clothing who gained notoriety for his athleticism, riding and roping skills. He helped advance the sport by forming teams, or asociaciones, and bolstering the local governing body.

He passed his love of the charrería to his children and grandchildren, most notably his sons. His oldest son, Anthony Reynoso, and his son, Anthony Reynoso, Jr., are featured in the 1996 children’s book, “Anthony Reynoso: Born to Rope.”

In 1981, Antonio and Roberta moved their family back to Globe, where the couple took over running his older brother Chalo Reynoso’s restaurant, then called Chalo’s Rolling Pin and now Chalo’s Casa Reynoso.

Antonio and Roberta decided to expand the family’s enterprise in 1984 and moved to Tempe to open Casa Reynoso, bringing their beloved family recipes with them. The couple cooked, with Roberta making fresh tortillas every morning, and the children pitched in.

Their first home was close to the restaurant, and the children attended Tempe schools, the family immersing themselves in the community. Antonio and Roberta later bought a five-acre lot in South Phoenix, building a seven-bedroom hacienda with a ring for rodeo on the ranch.

It’s what Antonio did, working hard to provide for his family, and an example they followed, passed from one generation to the next like the family recipes. Antonio was frugal when it came to himself but overwhelmingly generous, to family, friends, the church, community and even strangers, in Arizona and Mexico.

Antonio was firm with his children and employees – a holdover from his time as an Army drill sergeant – but fair and forgiving. He often joked that he had kids so they could help run the restaurant and take care of him when he got old. His children and grandchildren did that, out of love.

But if his wife or children were sick, Antonio took care of them. His youngest daughter, Anjelica, thought her dad could have been a doctor. “He always was the one to heal us,” Anjelica said.

Antonio delighted in the birth of each of his grandchildren, rejoicing as his family grew. He encouraged and supported all their endeavors, attending games and concerts and cheering them on.

When Antonio was hospitalized, he joked with the nurses and told stories of a life that he loved. Roberta never left his side, and when she fell asleep in a chair by his bed, Antonio watched her, saying again and again, “She’s so beautiful.” So was their love.

A man of faith, Antonio was ready. After a lifetime of hard work, he shared his wisdom through stories, reminding his family to work hard but also to slow down. It’s like cooking beans. “It takes time,” Antonio said, “but if you don’t hurry things, they turn out better.”

Antonio is survived by his wife, Roberta Reynoso; his children, Anthony Reynoso, of Guadalupe; Xavier Reynoso, of Phoenix; Joanne Reynoso, of Tempe; Robert Reynoso, of Gilbert; Yvette Reynoso Barnes, of Phoenix; Janelle Reynoso, of Phoenix; Roberta Reynoso Contreras, of Phoenix; Anjelica Reynoso, of Phoenix; and Brett Elliot, of Colorado; 36 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.

Visitation and rosary service will be noon to 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 10, 2023, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, 2121 S Rural Road in Tempe. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 11, 2023, also at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, followed by burial at Resthaven Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 4310 E. Southern Avenue in Phoenix.

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Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.resthavencarrtenney.com for the Reynoso family.