Adelitas and La Doña Mezcaleria Reflect on the Past While Looking to the Future

Victor Ayala connected his mother, Silvia Andaya, with Brian Rossi back in 2013, when Rossi was planning to open Adelitas Cocina y Cantina at 1294 South Broadway; Ayala knew she had a talent for cooking food from the Mexican state of Michoacán, where she'd grown up.

But now Ayala wants to clear up some confusion regarding the eatery's changes in recent years. "For the last three years, [the restaurant] has been owned solely by my mother," he explains, as has its attached mezcal bar, which was originally called Palenque but is now La Doña, or "boss lady." Which is exactly what Andaya is.

Formerly a housekeeper who had never set foot in a professional kitchen before opening Adelitas with Rossi, Andaya's recipes and spirit are at the heart of the restaurant's success. The eatery will soon celebrate nine years in business, and has become a beloved neighborhood staple.

In 2018, Rossi and Andaya opened a second Adelitas at 2609 Main Street in Littleton, but soon after, the business relationship dissolved and in 2020, the name of the Littleton outpost was changed to Palenque Cocina y Agaveria. Andaya is no longer affiliated with that location.

Ayala, who had stepped away from the business for several years, returned at the request of his mother to help run the original — and now only — Adelitas. "My mom didn't come in for a while because she was so disheartened by everything that was going on with her business," Ayala explains, adding that she's since returned. "I never step foot into the kitchen, because my mom just has it under control. Everybody loves her. There's no yelling over each other. Nobody feels threatened or misheard. ... It's truly like a true community. Everybody loves each other."

Getting to this point has been a struggle, though. Besides the end of the business relationship with Rossi, there was a fire in part of the dining room that left damage that's still being repaired two years later. The restaurant also switched to a new POS system that presented its own challenges. And then, of course, there was the pandemic-related strain of indoor-dining shutdowns.
But now things are progressing in a positive way. The post-fire rebuilding "should be ready within a month," Ayala says, noting that the space will become an extension of La Doña, which also just got a makeover. Additional seating was added, and the bar was updated with lights and new bar stools. There are plans to extend the patio, as well, so it can be used all winter.

Ayala is working on the mezcal collection, too. "I don't want to be known for having the most mezcals," he explains. "So what we have been doing is going through everything we have and just picking the best ones that we want to keep and reorder." La Doña offers new mezcal flights monthly as well as half-off flights on Wednesdays, and the bar staff is primed to walk any guest through a tasting of the spirits on offer.

While the bar space is closed on Sundays and Mondays, Ayala says that La Doña is available for private events on Sundays.

Although the Adelitas menu continues to emphasize dishes from Michoacán, La Doña now has its own menu highlighting the cuisine of Oaxaca, where mezcal is made — though Adelitas items are also available at the mezcal bar. That change has been popular with guests, and the sauces, which include two types of mole as well as salsa verde and salsa roja, have been a particular hit. "People want to put them in delis," Ayala says, adding that he plans to shift his focus to selling the sauces once all the La Doña updates are complete.

Unlike Adelitas, La Dona is 21-plus and offers a more sleek, sexy, intimate vibe than the family-friendly main dining room. But both are labors of love for Ayala and his mom, who have come to know many regulars over the years. "We have people who literally come in on a daily basis," Ayala says. "There are couples that I know that didn't have kids, and now they have kids, and it's really cool to see that transition."

Ayala and his wife, Manda, have a two-month-old son now, too, who spends plenty of time in the restaurant, sleeping soundly as his parents work on the space during the day and as patrons order tacos and mezcal pours at night.

Despite all of the challenges over the past three years, "I'm super happy that [our guests] stuck with us throughout all the changes," Ayala concludes. "And the staff, as well. We have people who have stayed with us since we started. And we're lucky to have these people."

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Rossi and Andaya originally opened Adelitas in Littleton together.