2022 Mesa Visitors Guide

CULTURE
seeker
When Hope Peshlakai’s new
Downtown Mesa restaurant opens
in spring 2022, visitors will get an
opportunity to sample more than the
Diné chef ’s family recipes. They’ll get a
chance to engage with Arizona’s Navajo
culture and community.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE
ARIZONA TO SOMEONE WHO’S
NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE?
The people are so kind, generous and
open. Plus, you can’t find sunsets like
ours anywhere else.
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT
MESA?
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
I’m proud to be the first Navajo woman
to own a business in downtown.
Knowing that my ancestors walked
these streets and now one of their
own runs a business… well, that’s the
American dream.
WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT
OPENING A NAVAJO RESTAURANT?
Tastes and smells bring me back to my
childhood on the reservation. I have so
many memories of food and I want to
share that. I love to feed people.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING
FORWARD TO WITH HOPE’S
FRYBREAD?
Having the restaurant be a gathering
place for other Navajo. I’d like it to be a
space for cultural events, for artists to
share their work or do book signings, to
provide jobs even.
Hope’s Frybread will open at 144 South
Mesa Drive, just north of Main Street in
early spring.
HOPE PESHLAKAI
OWNER AND CHEF, HOPE’S FRYBREAD
visitmesa.com
From the first week we signed the
lease for the restaurant, the community
welcomed us. We are lucky to have so
many cheering on our success.