Sierra's Restaurant in Sudbury Given New Life

It seemed like a shock to the entire community.

Loyal patrons of Sierra's Mexican restaurant in Sudbury driving by on April 4 looking to enjoy one of its famous margaritas, pulled up to the North Road business only to find it closed, with brown paper covering the windows and doors.

Acton resident and owner Sam Cannarozzi had suddenly closed his business of 23 years without a hint. Those loyal customers were left wondering: What happened?

But Cannarozzi has a second chance with Sierra's, and the popular restaurant will reopen in mid July as a sports pub with three TVs and piped-in music. But don't worry. Those margaritas are also making a comeback.

"The outside is painted, the inside being done, a lot of aestehics being done," he said. "We're leaning toward it being a sports pub (with) American food. A certain section will be dedicated to Tex Mex. The margaritas were very popular. From the outside Sierra’s will look very different."

Cannarozzi said the sudden closure of his business hurt, and knows it disappointed his customers.

"I'm sorry that it happened that way," he said. "I appreciate all the support. I got a ton of text messages, emails, letters, phone calls, saying reopen and that they care about us. I really appreciated that and look forward to having them back."

Cannarozzi is also the owner is Serafina in Concord. He closed that business, too, after 12 years, but reopened in late June. 

"The plan was to get Serafina open first and work on Sierra's," he said. "I want to thank my wife (Erica). She's been a tremendous help every way possible. Her and I together decided this is what we wanted to do again, start it over. Without her it doesn’t work."

Cannarozzi credited Sudbury's town officials, who he said held his licenses without revoking it, which aided in the reopening process. 

In all the chaos of closing and reopening his businesses, Cannarozzi said there was one lesson he learned: Think before you act.

"Sometimes you feel that you’ve given an important decision enough thought, and you act then. And I’ve learned these decisions need to take more time. Thankfully we've been able to reverse this."