Nina & Rafi closed after nearly seven years on the Eastside Beltline and will become a fourth location of tapas bar Eclipse di Luna, known for its live music and salsa dancing.
The pizzeria was sold to Rreal Tacos owner Damian Otero, who confirmed via email to Rough Draft that he will open a new Beltline location of the tapas bar this summer in partnership with the owners of Eclipse di Luna. Eclipse di Luna includes locations in Buckhead, Dunwoody, and at Halcyon in southern Forsyth County.
Steve Josovitz of The Shumacher Group brokered the deal between Nina & Rafi owner, Billy Streck, and Otero. Streck announced the closure of Nina & Rafi on Instagram, citing the continued challenges faced by the restaurant industry since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as leading to his decision to close the pizzeria.
“The truth is, the impact of 2020 hit the restaurant industry hard. And like many others, we faced challenges in the years that followed that made it difficult to fully recover. Despite our best efforts, the circumstances surrounding our closure were ultimately out of our control,” the statement sent to Rough Draft and posted to Instagram reads.
Streck declined to comment further on the circumstances surrounding the closure of Nina & Rafi.
Streck and O4W Pizza owner Anthony Spina originally opened Nina & Rafi together in 2018. Spina founded O4W Pizza at nearby Irwin Street Market in 2015, before relocating that pizzeria to its present location in Duluth a year later. Spina departed Nina & Rafi in 2020, claiming he was forced out due to “creative” disagreements in the kitchen.
Streck, also a partner in Cypress Street Pint & Plate, Pielands, and Lyla Lila, closed Inman Park restaurant Hampton + Hudson in 2024.
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Named for founding chef Adrian Villarreal, Rreal Tacos opened ten years ago at the corner of 6th and Juniper streets in Midtown. The menu offered tacos and dishes inspired by Villarreal’s hometown of Monterrey, Mexico.
Villarreal sold the restaurant to Otero and Miguel Hernandez in 2022, who began a rapid expansion of Rreal Tacos in metro Atlanta. The taco restaurant chain now features eight locations, including in Atlanta’s Home Park neighborhood, Decatur, Sandy Springs, Chamblee, and Cumming.
Rreal Tacos takes over the Dos Burros space at the Ford Factory Lofts across from Ponce City Market this summer. Dos Burros, owned by Fishmonger’s Nhan Le and Skip Engelbrecht and Andy Tan of Hopstix, closed last fall. A press release announcing that Rreal Tacos would replace Dos Burros provided the only acknowledgment of its closure at Ford Factory Lofts.
Another Rreal Tacos will also open soon in Lawrenceville.
661 Auburn Ave., Old Fourth Ward
