COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Southwestern eatery with two central Ohio locations is consolidating into one restaurant near Polaris Fashion Place.

Chile Verde Café closed its Carriage Place restaurant at 4853 Sawmill Rd. on Jan. 28 before reopening its 1522 Gemini Pl. location on Feb. 1 after a weeks-long renovation. Owner Tom Anthony said he made the decision to merge into one storefront following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Ultimately, we were too busy to manage both restaurants with the staffing levels that we had,” said Anthony. “Our recipes come out of northern New Mexico, the family recipes, and they’re from scratch and so it is a lot of work to create our product.”

Chile Verde’s Sawmill Road site had been welcoming guests for 32 years while the Gemini Place location opened 10 years ago. Since then, the restaurant has become known for stacked enchiladas, sizzling fajitas, fire-toasted quesadillas and homemade sauces with green and red chile imported from New Mexico.

Anthony said Gemini Place renovations include new lighting, fresh paint and an upgraded floor plan for a better flow and a smoother guest experience. In the coming months, Chile Verde is replacing the front windows with a sliding glass door that will lead to a patio for indoor-outdoor dining.

The redesigned space is also allowing Chile Verde to continue its catering offerings and begin new ventures like serving New Mexican breakfast coming later this year.

“A restaurant is about two things: food and people,” said Anthony. “The soul of [Chile Verde] is our people here, the staff that we have here and they are moving to Gemini. We’re gonna build it from here.”

Chile Verde is open 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed on Sunday. Learn more and view the menu here.