Noriega Hotel
Noriega Hotel, formerly known as Iberia Hotel, and commonly known as Noreiga's, was a Basque and American restaurant, boarding house and Basque cultural center located in East Bakersfield, California. The business opened in 1893 and was a staple of the Basque American culture in Bakersfield and California at large for generations, but was forced to close in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original bar and neon sign were moved to the Kern County Museum. The restaurant itself was sold in June 2020.
It moved to a location on the Stockdale Highway in Bakersfield, reopening in June 2021. The new iteration of the Noriega Hotel continued with the same recipes, as well as tables, chairs, plates and other memorabilia. However, it too closed in early 2025.
History
Faustino Noriega immigrated to the United States from Santander, Spain in 1872 as a shepherd. In 1893, he partnered with Fernando Etchevarry, a Basque immigrant, to open the "Iberia Hotel".The building served as a boardinghouse, post office, employment center, restaurant, and community center for Basques who often only spoke the Basque language. Noriega's is located two blocks from the former Southern Pacific Station, where many immigrants had arrived from Ellis Island only with a lapel that said "Noriega Hotel Bakersfield, California".
In 1906, the name changed from Iberia Hotel to Noriega Hotel. In 1931, Jean and Grace Elizalde bought the property. In 1940, the current restaurant and portion of the building were added.
In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant temporarily closed due to the difficulty of social distancing with family style dining. In April 2020, the restaurant announced they would not reopen and the restaurant was sold in June 2020. At the time of the sale, the restaurants was co-owned by the two granddaughters of the Elizaldes, Linda Elizalde-McCoy and Rochelle Ladd. Mrs. Ladd, a longtime fixture at the restaurant and regular hostess, died in January 2023 at the age of 70 of a longstanding heart condition.
Noriega's was featured in Huell Hower's television show, California's Gold, the LA Times, and Smithsonian Magazine.
The future of the building at 525 Sumner Street is unknown. The new Noriega's opened at 4809 Stockdale Highway in June 2021 before closing in early 2025.