Danielle Lirette
Audio By Carbonatix
Otra Vez Cantina, the Mexican joint that opened on what was then the 16th Street Mall back in 2017 and took a very long pandemic break, is finally back.
During its soft opening over the weekend, Otra Vez enjoyed a literal warm welcome, with the garage-door front open wide as guests invited or not strolled in off what’s now 16th Street for some very large margaritas and commendable street tacos, as well as other specialties.
And today, March 16, Otra Vez will make its official comeback. Over the past few months, owner Frank Schultz gave the place a major cleaning and made a few changes — upgraded lighting, an updated mezcal bar upstairs, a mural of his dog. Much is the same, though, including those big margs and the menu, since Schultz was able to hire back the same kitchen team.
“But the dynamic is very different,” Schultz says of the downtown outside of Otra Vez’s doors.
And he’s anticipating one big change when the weather settles down: Thanks to new city rules, he’ll be able to expand the Otra Vez patio right up to the bus lane and down to the end of the building — which will expand the seating from eight to forty tables and bring the party right to the people, since foot traffic will pass between the patio and the restaurant’s exterior.
Otra Vez was a concept created by the once-mighty Tavern Hospitality Group, which has been closing and selling off properties since the mother-son partnership split up. One of the last to close was Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, a Schultz favorite that just couldn’t make its leased space in Prospect Park work.
Today, Schultz is focusing on Chopper’s Sports Grille, a property THG bought a decade ago in Cherry Creek that will soon incorporate The Soiled Dove music lineup, and Otra Vez, which is also in leased space. But with the way that space looked this weekend, the party’s just beginning.
Otra Vez is now open at 610 16th Street from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Learn more here.
