Brunch at Felipe Rodriguez Tequila House in Thornton Park

The newest place to open in Thornton Park is Felipe Rodriguez Tequila House, a Mexican inspired bar brought to us by the people behind Graffiti Junktion and now Dexter’s. Fittingly, their opening date was Cinco De Mayo.

The place has undergone quite a renovation inside from its time as Graffiti Junktion with gorgeous new handcrafted cedar wood planks and beautiful pieces from Washburn Imports. It’s definitely a place you wouldn’t mind coming to try a few of their over 60 tequilas available as well as some of their dishes crafted by Executive Chef Greg Weisner.

Chef Drew, who had his first cooking class when I was 7 or 8 years old, went on to graduate from Johnson and Wales University in the Culinary Arts Program and has been a chef for 35+ years. “I was inspired by my mom who was a chef in our home’s gourmet kitchen and our family’s housekeeper and cook, Claritha Roux (known to us kids as Reesie),” he says.

Since then he has worked in corporate to private restaurants, as well as resorts and even stage shows, and notably started at Dexter’s in mid 90’s as Opening Executive Chef of Thornton Park.

For research into the new menu at Felipe Rodriguez, chef Drew traveled to Mexico multiple times to get the flavors down.

“The inspiration was to create an authentic Cocina Mexicana (Mexican Kitchen), where everyone is welcome and should feel at home,” he said.

Chef Drew tells us he has a keen knack for matching flavors and colors making a dish taste good and also look desirable – and it shows.

The empanadas here are special – crispy and delicately crunchy, made in small batches with flavors and stuffings changing often. The Chicken Tinga Empanadas, a savory empanada with a delightful smoky tomato chipotle flavored chicken and cheese stuffing comes from one of Felipe’s chef’s, Andrea, who lived outside of Mexico City.

The menu for lunch has a variety of different tacos and is in current progress of expanding. All salsas are fresh made and flavored with a multitude of serranos, chipotles, poblano peppers, fresh cilantro and garlic.

There are over 60 tequilas available at Felipe Rodriguez with tequilas of note at Felipe’s including Don Julio’s 1942, Clase Azul, and Casamigos. It’s also important to note that the Tequila House’s well Tequila, Maestro Dobel is a mid shelf Tequila at most other restaurants.

For brunch, there’s even bottomless Preston Tequila Sangrias available to order here at Felipe Rodriguez.

The new brunch menu runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am-4pm, featuring Bottomless Mimosas ($14)and Bottomless Preston Tequila Sangria ($17) as well as fabulous Huevos Rodriguez, a delicious and beautiful rendition of Huevos Rancheros with grilled black bean and cheese quesadilla, served with a side of two eggs and a dollop of salsa fresca, crema blanco, and verde sauce.