There’s a new Mexican restaurant in town, opening up any day now near BayTowne Plaza. And if the words “Mexican restaurant” aren’t enough to get you over there to check it out, perhaps these words will:
Tequila flights.
Tequila flights will be just one of the brand new drink menu items featured when the new Mecate Mexican Restaurant opens at 1998 Empire Blvd., in the former Fire Crust Pizza location along the Brandt Point Dr. entrance road to BayTowne Plaza.
This is the third Mecate location for co-owners Omar Garcia, Abby Ramirez and Fabricio Palma. They opened their first location in Henrietta in October of 2022, and their second in Macedon only three months later. Soon after that they decided they wanted to expand again, and jumped on the chance to come to Webster/Penfield when the old Fire Crust Pizza location became available.
Transforming the space from a pizza joint to a full-service restaurant hasn’t been too difficult.
“It was a good thing it was an existing restaurant,” Omar said. “We had to do some mostly non-structural finishes, and put in a lot of our touches to make it look a little classy,” like moving in their signature furniture, painting, and adding some distinctly Mexican features like tile work and Aztec calendars. The heaviest lift was expanding the seating area at the back of the restaurant into what used to be a big office, and building a bar. The restaurant is now spacious enough to comfortably seat 150 patrons at the tables, booths, bar and the seasonal outdoor patio.
If you’re already familiar with either of the two other Mecate locations, you’ll be pleased to know you’ll find all of your Mexican meal favorites here as well — fajitas, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, desserts and more. But opening a new location has provided an opportunity to try some new things, especially on the drink menu.
Like the tequila flights. And mezcal flights. And a new spicy Margarita made with ghost tequila and rimmed with black salt. “It’s got a little bit of a kick to it,” Omar said, “but at the same time it’s got the kick where you want more.”
And what exactly does “Mecate” mean? It’s a question asked so often, they printed the answer right on the front of their menu: “Mecate is a rope made of hair or maguey fibre commonly used for tying horses.” They chose it in a brainstorming session one night before opening their first location, landing on it because it’s pretty simple and easy to say. Even if no one knows what it means.
Omar, Abby and Fabricio all live in the Canandaigua/Macedon area, where they’ve become well known in their communities. And even though this is their third location in just over two years, “We don’t consider ourselves a chain,” Omar said. “We run our own locations, we’re still involved.” And as they continue to grow, they hope to become more involved in the Webster/Penfield community as well, supporting fundraisers and local businesses.
Because they know what it’s like to start from scratch.
“We came from nothing,” Omar said. “We’re immigrants that came to this country with nothing and are just building our way.”
Mecate Mexican Restaurant is opening this week or next (TBA) at 1998 Empire Blvd., adjacent to BayTowne Plaza. More information to come, but in the meantime, click here for the Henrietta/Macedon stores’ website and here for the Facebook page.
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(posted 11/5/2024)
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