Razz Cortes always had a passion for food, but she spent decades in the tech industry as a human factors engineer for major tech firms before making a big career change. She opened Carm & Gia Metropolitan at 9598 East Montview Boulevard in Aurora in February 2020 — just a month before the pandemic shut down indoor dining. The eatery serves burgers, hot dogs, burritos and more, and pays homage to the things she cherishes dearly, including Chicago, her hometown, and Denver, her adopted hometown for over 25 years; its name honors her children, Carmelo and Gaby.
After pivoting to add online ordering and in-house delivery to make it through 2020, Cortes was feeling optimistic about the future of her business as restrictions loosened by the summer of 2021. But on June 17 of that year, a freshly cleaned bag of linens at the restaurant self-combusted.
It was a long road to recovery for the restaurant, which was closed for seven and a half months for repairs. Although the place had insurance, "There’s still a mortgage to pay, still utilities to pay, still insurance premiums to pay — all of which is happening while restoration is happening,” Cortes told Westword in 2022. “The financial hit our family has taken to weather this and remain has been very challenging. We are hanging on by a thread — that’s the truth of it.”
Two years later, she can't hang on any longer. "Sales dropped off a cliff this year, and despite trimming operational costs to the bare minimum, we were hemorrhaging money," Cortes says. "I wish we could have kept it going. I really believed in our concept, and seemingly it was appreciated by the community, [but] the volume was not there. I spent countless nights and tears dwelling and ruminating on what to tweak, and that list is long — yet in the end, with sales being so low, it made no sense to continue."
In an announcement posted to Instagram, Cortes wrote:
"It is with much sadness and a lump in our throat that we announce the closure of Carm & Gia Metropolitan. Our last day for service is Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. This decision was long in the making and a very difficult one. Our concept, comfort food when you want it most, in our little bright corner of northwest Aurora, and business model, sadly, was not sustainable. This journey has been a true labor of love. We opened February 3, 2020 after completing a year and a half renovation to the property which coincided with the timing of a month and a half before the USA COVID shut down.
Through it all, we have greatly enjoyed personally meeting many of you, our cherished customers, and are so grateful for your support. We found much motivation in the community’s sentiment to see us succeed — we thank you! Last but not least, we thank all and are grateful to our amazing current and past employees for their many contributions and commitment to service and to elevating our small but mighty Met.
We look forward to savoring and serving our community with ‘good eats’ until our closure, and while supplies last. We wish our neighbors and the community along with our fellow local businesses, especially the food & beverage establishments much success. Thank you for the memories."
Carm & Gia Metropolitan is located at 9598 East Montview Boulevard in Aurora and will be open from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday through September 21. For more information, visit carmandgiametropolitan.com.
