Rittenhouse Square’s Dearly Missed Mexican Restaurant Tequilas Reopens

When Tequilas caught on fire on February 9, 2023, the family business didn’t anticipate it to take more than two years to reopen. By the time they realized how long the road ahead would really be, owner and family patriarch David Suro decided it was time to reimagine his pioneering restaurant in Rittenhouse Square (1602 Locust Street).

“Mexican food in Philly has changed so much in the last twenty years,” he tells Eater. “We need to adapt so that we can continue to be at the forefront.”

Tequilas first opened in 1986, and moved to its current location on Locust Street in 2000. On Tuesday, March 18, Tequilas finally rebooted service with a fully rebuilt kitchen and updated dining room. Head to the back to find a surprise new all-day component called La Jefa, which strives to bring more regional Mexican food and spirits into the spotlight in Philly.

Tequilas

Tequilas’ regulars will recognize the dining room, which was revamped following the fire with fresh paint and finishes — including a colorful tiled flooring imported from Suro’s hometown of Guadalajara. The menu remains focused on elegant regional Mexican dishes, but delivered in a fresh format in a smaller dining room.

Tequilas’ seating arrangement used to extend to the back of the building, with room for upwards of 150 people on a busy night. The post-fire rehab entailed splitting up the dining room, retaining the white-tablecloth tone of Tequilas in the front, and turning the back of the building into an ambitious morning-to-night cafe and bar. La Jefa starts the day with a coffee program fueled on high-quality beans from Mexico that aren’t found anywhere else in Philly. That’s according to Dan Suro, David’s son and one of the three children who operate the business. La Jefa refers to the nickname of David’s late wife and Dan’s mother.

Its food centers around lonches (a style of Guadalajaran sandwich that Dan likens to hoagies), which are served on long, sourdough rolls known as birotes.

“We see a lot of similarities between Philadelphia and Guadalajara, and we’re calling the food and beverage program at La Jefa ‘Guadaladelphian’ because we really want to highlight those similarities,” Dan explained.

Tequilas

At night, you’ll find fancier bar bites, craft cocktails, and natural wine. Within La Jefa, customers can reserve tables across two areas: a more casual space perfect for groups to hang and sip tequila sodas and glasses of wine; and an upscale bar ideal for dates and cocktail obsessives.

That tequila soda you’re sipping, though, will be unlike the thrown-together version you get at other bars. Dan is leaning into a draft program, building out a menu of fermented sodas with his friend and consultant, Danny Childs.

“We’ve been able to import cooked agave, which we’re fermenting into soda, so you can actually have a tequila soda with flavor and body that doesn’t have any alcohol in it,” Dan explains. They’re doing something similar with a paloma, a house-made soda with grapefruit and cooked agave fermented into it, so guests can make the choice whether they want a nonalcoholic or spiked cocktail.

“The agave in the soda, that’s the same product that’s being used to make Cascahuin,” says David Suro, referencing the tequila he imports from Jalisco. “It’s a really clear and cool way to experience the flavor and characteristics of this plant.”

Reservations for Tequilas are available on Resy, with La Jefa to follow in a few weeks.

“We’ve waited so long to get this open,” says Dan. “We figured, might as well wait a little longer and do it right.”