When Tequilas caught on fireplace on February 9, 2023, the household enterprise didn’t anticipate it to take greater than two years to reopen. By the point they realized how lengthy the street forward would actually be, proprietor and household patriarch David Suro determined it was time to reimagine his pioneering restaurant in Rittenhouse Sq. (1602 Locust Road).
“Mexican meals in Philly has modified a lot within the final twenty years,” he tells Eater. “We have to adapt in order that we will proceed to be on the forefront.”
Tequilas first opened in 1986, and moved to its present location on Locust Road in 2000. On Tuesday, March 18, Tequilas lastly rebooted service with a completely rebuilt kitchen and up to date eating room. Head to the again to discover a shock new all-day element known as La Jefa, which strives to deliver extra regional Mexican meals and spirits into the highlight in Philly.
Tequilas’ regulars will acknowledge the eating room, which was revamped following the hearth with contemporary paint and finishes — together with a colourful tiled flooring imported from Suro’s hometown of Guadalajara. The menu stays centered on elegant regional Mexican dishes, however delivered in a contemporary format in a smaller eating room.
Tequilas’ seating association used to increase to the again of the constructing, with room for upwards of 150 individuals on a busy night time. The post-fire rehab entailed splitting up the eating room, retaining the white-tablecloth tone of Tequilas within the entrance, and turning the again of the constructing into an bold morning-to-night cafe and bar. La Jefa begins the day with a espresso program fueled on high-quality beans from Mexico that aren’t discovered wherever else in Philly. That’s in accordance with Dan Suro, David’s son and one of many three kids who function the enterprise. La Jefa refers back to the nickname of David’s late spouse and Dan’s mom.
Its meals facilities round lonches (a mode of Guadalajaran sandwich that Dan likens to hoagies), that are served on lengthy, sourdough rolls often called birotes.
“We see a whole lot of similarities between Philadelphia and Guadalajara, and we’re calling the meals and beverage program at La Jefa ‘Guadaladelphian’ as a result of we actually need to spotlight these similarities,” Dan defined.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25918808/_32A0869.jpeg)
At night time, you’ll discover fancier bar bites, craft cocktails, and pure wine. Inside La Jefa, prospects can reserve tables throughout two areas: a extra informal house good for teams to hold and sip tequila sodas and glasses of wine; and an upscale bar ideally suited for dates and cocktail obsessives.
That tequila soda you’re sipping, although, will probably be in contrast to the thrown-together model you get at different bars. Dan is leaning right into a draft program, constructing out a menu of fermented sodas together with his pal and advisor, Danny Childs.
“We’ve been capable of import cooked agave, which we’re fermenting into soda, so you possibly can even have a tequila soda with taste and physique that doesn’t have any alcohol in it,” Dan explains. They’re doing one thing comparable with a paloma, a house-made soda with grapefruit and cooked agave fermented into it, so friends could make the selection whether or not they need a nonalcoholic or spiked cocktail.
“The agave within the soda, that’s the identical product that’s getting used to make Cascahuin,” says David Suro, referencing the tequila he imports from Jalisco. “It’s a very clear and funky approach to expertise the flavour and traits of this plant.”
Reservations for Tequilas can be found on Resy, with La Jefa to observe in a number of weeks.
“We’ve waited so lengthy to get this open,” says Dan. “We figured, would possibly as nicely wait just a little longer and do it proper.”