Elements of the same team that brought you Stock and Barrel on Market Square will deliver top-line tacos and tequila starting Thursday. Chef Niko Angelos is joined by brothers Dino and Bill and partner Ben Austin. What you’ll find is a high-end product at a very modest price in a cool, casual atmosphere. What has been a dead section of Gay Street after dark should be hopping into the night.
To say the journey has been a difficult march to opening day for Chivo Taqueria is to undersell just how long this has been coming. Last October when I wrote the first article about the project, the space had been leased for a year and the group hoped to open in December. Recently they joked about calling the new restaurant “Dos Anos,” for the nearly two years it has taken to make it happen. In the months since that first article, construction delays necessitated changing construction companies and the group also decided to change the name, given the negative reaction to the first name they selected. The focus, they felt, should be on the food.
And the food has been given great thought. The brothers and Ben have long relationships with area farmers and that will form the basis of their supply chain. Local hogs fed local grains and raised by Bill Loy in New Market, Tennessee and slaughtered in Greeneville by Harris Country Meat are delivered directly to the restaurant. The beef, lamb and goat are also sourced locally or as nearby as possible. Vegetables will be sourced locally when they are in season. John at Mitchell Family Farm provides the beef. Lambs are purchased in Morristown and slaughtered in Greenville. Riverplains Farm are also partners.
You can view the menu exclusively here for the moment, but it should soon be available on the web page. It is a simple, basic menu to start, but as they have done at Stock and Barrel, specials will be offered and a number of those will eventually be added to the regular menu. Starters include house-made guacamole, house-made salsa, house-made chips and hot wings. Initial taco offerings include brisket, mahi mahi, carnitas, duck and lamb. Chicken, shrimp, street corn and a few other items offer some variety and churros and flan are offered for dessert.
The flour for the tortillas is ground in-house on a Lenin machine and is generated from a mixture of heirloom, non-GMO local and Mexican corn from Masienda, all of which is traceable to the farm from which it is purchased. The group is committed to organic, non-gmo and gluten-free products. Using a wet-masa process, the corn is cooked in lime and ground wet to make a wet masa. The machine they will use for making the tortillas is able to produce 700 per hour.
The dishes, including the tacos are sold a la carte and they hope you’ll mix and match and try a range of foods. Tacos and most of the dishes run around $4. Several of the options are vegetarian and can easily be made vegan upon request, with the removal of cheese.
The tequila is also a star and you’ll find tequila for the connoisseur as well as for the novice wanting to learn. Espolon is the house tequila and you’ll find pours of that and other tequilas ranging from $6 to $50. Over 120 different premium tequilas are offered and all are 100% agave. In addition, you’ll find eighteen different mescals and a strong scotch and rye selection. Ten taps serving craft beer will be operational and the wine selection will include seven whites, seven reds and four reserve wines. Similar to the bourbon concept at Stock and Barrel, flights will be offered to experience a range of the beverage and specialty cocktails focused on both tequila and mescal will also be available.
I think you’ll enjoy the space, as well. The lighting is funky and beautiful and the art is fun. The bar was poured by Justin Paulk of Paulk and Company, who is also responsible for the creches in the rear and the sign on the front. The exposed wood, including a beautiful floor, the rough walls and simple furnishings – as well as the golden bicycle situated above the door give a funky vibe that I think will be very appealing.
You’ll be able to make reservations online via the Nowait App. And with seating for 120 (about twice Stock and Barrel), getting inside should be a bit easier than is the case at the other restaurant. They are confident they will be able to accommodate large parties. Hours start at 10:00 AM each day (according to the owner I contacted – the website says 11:00 AM, so check) and end at 10:00 PM each night except Friday and Saturday night when they will be open until 11:00 PM. Stop in and have a taco and between now and then, give them a “like” on the Chivo Taqueria Facebook Page.