Mezcal restaurant on East Colfax Avenue is closing for remodeling and a menu change. (Photo by Brian Brainerd, The Denver Post)
Mezcal restaurant, a popular Mexican-food spot at 3230 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver, is closing for a major overhaul that will include new decor and a refreshed menu.
After an 11 year run, Mezcal will shutter at midnight on June 7, after its Sunday dinner service. The plan is to reopen the restaurant in a few weeks.
“We really don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” said Chris Swank, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Loris Venegas. “But we want to refreshen the place, tweak the recipes and source fresher ingredients. We want to step back and taste everything, find out what we really like and what could be improved, and it’s hard to do that when you’re open every day.
Venegas, who conceived the original festive decor, will take on the task of refreshing and enlivening the room. There will be some new folks helping in the kitchen, and the couple intend to retrain the staff.
Swank said that after more than a decade in business, the opportunity to make changes to his restaurant came when he bought out the last of his three original partners.
One question: Will those racy Mexican comic strips that serve as wallpaper in the men’s room stay or go? Swank laughed. “There’s some contention on that between my wife and me,” he said. “Some people complain about them. But we got rid of them at one point, and some people didn’t like that, so we’ll be figuring that out.”
Something that won’t change: The housemade salsas, which are excellent, and the margaritas using fresh-squeezed lime juice.
Swank said that Sunday will probably amount to a goodbye party with patrons. “We’re looking forward to a nice sendoff,” he said.
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