Estelle Speros: The Vibrant Lady Who Sparked Downtown Phoenix’s Renaissance

“Estelle Speros was a Pied Piper of extraordinary capacity,” says Scott Jacobson, a former executive at Arizona Public Service and Executive Director of Valley Leadership. “She assembled a troupe of individuals who together made magic happen in Downtown Phoenix. I am ever grateful to have been part of that troupe.”

This glowing tribute to the late co-owner-manager of Estelle’s Bistro, which briefly flourished in the historic San Carlos Hotel, brought life to Downtown Phoenix during a period when vitality was scarce. However, as quickly as Speros created a hub of excitement, it disappeared. “It was a place before its time…before Downtown was active enough to support it,” says Athia Hardt, the former press secretary to Governors Bruce Babbitt and Rose Mofford. 

Speros came to the restaurant/nightclub industry after a successful career in theater. The Boston native moved to Phoenix with her family at age 6 in 1953 and soon became a regular on the Lew King Ranger Show at Downtown’s Fox Theater, alongside the future Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton.  

The family later moved from Phoenix, but Speros returned in time to graduate from Arcadia High School in 1965. Incidentally, in the 1964 school yearbook, her class photo was next to Steve Spielberg… yes, that “movie” guy! 

In 1971, Speros graduated from ASU with a degree in theater. For the next decade, she directed stage productions in the Valley, including what is now known as The Phoenix Theater Company.

Speros then pivoted to help run C. Steele and Co., a marketplace restaurant in Scottsdale. Carol Steele expanded by taking on the restaurant at the San Carlos Hotel. When she realized the effort required to open a restaurant in Downtown Phoenix, Speros and two partners, Lucia Faconas and Scott Jacobson, opened Estelle’s Bistro in July 1983.  

The location had been home to many failed eateries. “We considered her the first professional restaurateur to run the place,” says Robert Melikian, former co-owner of the San Carlos Hotel. 

“The place was a mix of Camelot and Greek drama: it had moments of magic, aspirations of greatness, food, and events that were the stuff of legend,” says Jacobson, a co-owner who had relocated from New York City. “Although Downtown was a ghost town after 5 p.m., Estelle had the kind of vision and energy that could enliven a city. She was a whirling dervish of energy and imagination.” 

Speros and her husband lived in the hotel’s penthouse suite to monitor the food provided by room service and the restaurant. “They loved the downtown vibe,” Jim Speros, her brother, says. “But, as I later learned in a similar situation when they moved to Commonwealth Avenue in downtown Boston, parking tickets were just proof that your car was still there. One day at the San Carlos, she sent me down to get something from her car, which was regularly parked on the street in front of the hotel. The passenger side of the car was a receptacle for over a hundred parking tickets. None were attended to.”

Estelle’s Bistro also showcased music. “One of the great joys was Prince Shell, the brilliant Black jazz pianist with a Zen Buddhist sensibility,” Jacobson says. The setting drew journalists and politicos from both sides of the aisle, including Terry Goddard, who had recently been elected Phoenix mayor. 

“Estelle’s opened with a bang,” Goddard reflected. “Everything seemed to work. The food was ample and adequate, the crowd lively, and the drinks flowed. But the key to its popularity was the lady herself. Estelle provided the heart and soul. She was a natural. Her smile made everyone feel comfortable, and she quickly learned her regular guests’ table and drink preferences. She knew music and catered to her musicians’ whims and moods. The music just surged.”

But fate would not be kind to Estelle’s Bistro. In June 1984, the hotel’s air-conditioning died during a gap in the Melikians’ hotel ownership. “They had a triple-net lease, which meant they were responsible for everything,” Jim Speros says. “In no time, the AC failed, and the kitchen plumbing had major problems, along with the appliances. They had a knack for being among the most entertaining couples around, but the profit-and-loss aspect seemed to escape them.” 

Speros decided to shut down Estelle’s Bistro, but not before throwing one of her legendary street parties, complete with block-long conga lines.  

“For the Beach Party, when we knew we were going to close, we had 150 tons of sand poured into the street, Jacuzzis in the dunes, and lobsters flown in from Boston,” Jacobson says. “The evening ended with a windstorm that blew the sand dunes across Central onto the Valley National Bank plaza.” 

“It was lots of fun until I got the call to remove it on Monday morning,” Jim Speros recalls. 

The Melikians reacquired the San Carlos Hotel and fixed the air-conditioning, but Estelle’s Bistro stayed closed. “Her favorable lease terms didn’t sit well with my father, so when he returned, she wisely left,” Robert Melikian says. “She and my father were tough cookies in business and knew they wouldn’t get along. They both wanted to be the boss.” 

Still, he remains impressed by what Speros was able to accomplish, including having the pull to get the city to close Monroe Street and create a giant sandbox for her special events.

Speros and her husband moved to Boston after Bruce MacDonald was recruited to be the Development Director at Berklee College of Music. He later died of cancer in Boston. After a successful career as an event planner, Estelle, who was living with multiple sclerosis, moved back to Phoenix and passed away in 2025. 

Jacobson says Speros was talented in many ways, including as a jazz singer, show producer, Greek food chef, listener, and visionary. “She loved Phoenix and wanted greatness to happen here,” he says. It eventually did, and Speros led the way.

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Douglas C. Towne is the editor of Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, www.arizcc.com