Tekila Group opened its first area restaurant in 2018. And their newest, A Fuego Vivo, opens in mid-February at 5110 Poplar Avenue, the site of the old Carrabba’s Italian Grill.
And another restaurant, Zona 55, is planned for Senatobia, Mississippi, says Ricardo Rivera, 23, son of Jose Gomez, who owns the restaurant group with Rivera’s uncle, Alexander Gomez.
“We started with Tekila, the one in Cordova,” says Rivera, the group’s controller. “That one is Tex-Mex. Your chimichangas, the loud, colorful environment people are used to. Then we opened a second the next year in Jackson, Tennessee … pretty much copy and paste. Our third opened in 2022 after COVID, in Southaven, [with] a modern interpretation of Mexican dishes. Nicer, more upscale.”
About two years ago, the group opened the elegant Tekila in the old Nineteenth Century Club mansion on Union. “That’s our steakhouse concept,” Rivera says. “When we first opened, people said, ‘Mexican? Steakhouse? Those don’t go.’ But they do. It’s a steakhouse, but it’s inspired by those really nice Mexican restaurants you find in tourist places like Cancún.”
People are familiar with the sizzling steak dishes served tableside at most Mexican restaurants. But the Tekila on Union features “high-end cuts,” like tomahawks. At Fuego Vivo, Rivera says, “We want to bring Wagyu.”
Modern Mexican could describe Fuego Vivo’s fare. Menu items will be “from all over the world,” Rivera notes. “It wouldn’t be right to say we’re ‘authentic,’ but we do have Mexican inspiration. A lot of people here in the Mid-South have the belief that Mexican food is chimichangas and burritos. That’s just not the case.”
They’ve hired four chefs for Fuego Vivo. “[Some] have worked at restaurants in Mexico that specialized in pastas, or in Asian food. They’re all going to work together to put out this international menu.”
Instead of having someone prepare only guacamole tableside, Fuego Vivo will offer tableside for other items, including salsa. “We have our salsa lady,” Rivera says. “She has a bunch of ingredients, different levels of spice.” The salsas are made “just to your liking … It’s not all the same red and green sauce every other Tex-Mex serves. We like having a custom touch to it.”
As for the look, Fuego Vivo is done in natural colors with gold accents. Mexican architect Filipao Nunes “did everything,” Rivera says. The space includes meeting rooms and doors that can open up if more seating is needed; an open-air kitchen; a bar that seats 10 each side; and a main dining room. A patio will open in late March.
Rivera admits they “had issues” with Memphis Heritage when opening the Tekila on Union Avenue. “They didn’t want us to paint the building, which we ultimately did not do. We’re trying hard to preserve it,” he says. “It’s part of Memphis history. We understand that.”
Tekila Group doesn’t plan to stop with the upcoming Senatobia restaurant. More are planned. “We wanted to keep growing. We don’t want to sit still,” Rivera says.
A ribbon cutting for Fuego Vivo is planned for February 9th. “I’m proud of what we’re doing, especially in the Memphis area,” says Rivera. “We’re able to support the city. With these next two restaurants, we’re going to hire over 200 new employees.”
Rivera acknowledged the “great restaurants,” in the area near them. “We just want to fill that void, with Houston’s gone. I’m sure they had a lot of loyal customers. Carrabba’s as well.
“We want to be that restaurant people go to weekly. We’ll have great food, but that’s not always what makes a restaurant,” Rivera says. “We want to stand out by the service we provide. I can go to an amazing restaurant and have the greatest food in the world, but if I don’t feel comfortable, if I don’t feel welcome, I probably won’t return. For me, service is top priority.”
Rivera notes the importance of teamwork in accomplishing this. We’re “all one team — if one falls, we all fall. We want to dig that deep into the staff here. It does make a difference when you’re all working toward the same goal of satisfying the customer.”