Felipe Rodriguez Tequila House will open Friday in the space that was most recently Truck Stop Pop-up Kitchen and before that the site of the original Graffiti Junktion.
The space on Wednesday was still undergoing last minute renovations. A significant part of the remodel is a permanent roof over part of the building that previously had been covered by an awning. (For many years it was an open air, uncovered patio.) It now has a cedar plank ceiling and the floor has been refinished with a copper leather epoxy.
According to the new restaurant’s website, Felipe Rodriguez grew up on a blue agave farm in Mexico and started making his own tequila, as you would expect anyone who grew up on a blue agave farm in Mexico to do. “My community loves my tequila, so now I want to share it with the world,” Rodriguez is quoted as saying.
It’s unclear whether Felipe Rodriguez actually exists.
The restaurant is another project from Greg Peters, who started the Graffiti Junktion chain and who recently took over the Thornton Park and Winter Park Dexter’s restaurants. His partners are Mike Riles, Luke Wickham, Adam Ehrhard and Jason Ackman. Ehrhard’s construction company is doing the buildout.
The restaurant, at 900 E. Washington St., will open in time for Cinco De Mayo, which falls on May 5 this year. It plans to start serving on Friday (tres de mayo) at 3 p.m. with a limited menu. There will be a full bar, as you’d expect from a Tequila House, but it will not stock a Felipe Rodriguez brand. That, Peters said, will come later.
The space was originally built as a gas station and other restaurants that have occupied it include Thornton Park Cafe, La Fontanella da Nino and Midnight Blue.
