This Patio Pop-Up Serves Seafood, Cervezas and Breezy Mexican Beach Vibes

"Growing up, the beach was our happy place," says restaurateur Jesus "Chuy" Gutierrez, recalling childhood memories of Jalisco, Mexico. Now he's bringing those vibes to a new patio pop-up at 3 Margaritas in Broomfield. Choza, a Spanish word meaning "shack" or “hut,” is an ode to the casual establishments found along the beaches of Jalisco.

The food menu for Choza was created by chef Sharif Villa Cruz, a Colorado Mountain College Culinary Institute graduate whose résumé includes stints at Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar and bygone local favorites TAG and Lola. He and Gutierrez first teamed up for a series of four-course tequila-tasting dinners hosted at 3 Margaritas.

The offerings at Choza showcase fresh seafood such as ahi tuna, hamachi and scallops in various ceviches and aguachiles, including a rare variation, aguachile negro tatemado, a smoky preparation of black tiger prawns, burned corn tortilla, chiltepín (small berry-like chiles), fresh lime juice, cucumber, red onion and black sesame seeds.

“Guests usually start with our oysters,” Gutierrez says, which are served raw with house hot sauce, limes and chicharrònes; as a shot with a michelada; or fully loaded with house clamato mix, poached shrimp, carne seca, pico de gallo, avocado and chicharrones.

Tucked away in the back of the restaurant, Choza has its own small outdoor kitchen, a four-seat chef's counter and clay-colored picnic tables. It's an intimate escape that's special enough for a date night — without having to go downtown.
Gutierrez is no stranger to restaurant life; his maternal uncles Nicolas and Manuel Morales left behind farm life in Mexico and immigrated in the 1970s to Seattle, where they opened the family's first venture, Las Margaritas. The modest six-table operation gained local popularity, and eventually, Nicolas, Manuel and their other brother, Gustavo, launched fifteen 3 Margaritas locations throughout Washington state before expanding into Colorado and Nebraska.

The Morales brothers grew their brand by enlisting family members and friends to buy into the business. The rapid expansion prompted Gutierrez's parents to join the operation in Seattle in 1984 before moving back to Mexico, where they built a house with their earnings. Gutierrez spent his kindergarten and elementary school years in Ayutla, Mexico, before his parents moved the family back stateside in 1998.

Growing up, Gutierrez watched his mother, Sylvia Morales, raise four kids, clean the family restaurant in the mornings, tend to their home during the day, get dinner on the table, then head back to the restaurant to serve tables at night. In 2009, she opened her own 3 Margaritas outpost in Westminster's Orchard Mall.

In 2019, Gutierrez took the reins of the Broomfield 3 Margaritas, where chef Javier Nava serves time-honored family recipes that have endured for decades. “Actually, in moving to Colorado, we had to learn how to make green chile and crispy rellenos because that’s not something that we grew up with. It’s something we had to learn how to make to stay in business here in Colorado," Gutierrez jokes.
While the food menu at 3 Margaritas is filled with familiar dishes such as carne asada, enchiladas and fajitas, some things have shifted behind the bar. “There’s a younger generation of 3 Margaritas — myself, my brothers and cousins," Gutierrez notes. "We’ve learned to change the recipes,” with an increased focus on fresh-made mixers and high-quality, small-batch, family-owned artisanal agave spirits such as Tequila Arette and Tequila Fortaleza.

“We’ve been down to Tequila, Jalisco, to see how they make it and got educated," says Gutierrez, adding that he's also learned from local experts like Brian Smith, a former spirits specialist at Classic Wines. "Now we really care about what we serve because of the education that we have on agave.”

Choza follows suit, with a separate cocktail menu that highlights some lesser-known agave spirits like raicilla, which is used in the Cóctel de Piña made with grilled pineapple, jalapeño and lime.
Choza will operate throughout the summer, but on Cinco de Mayo, it will feature a limited menu. Guests will be able to enjoy a margarita bar and a taco bar on the patio for dinner or while waiting for a table inside 3 Margaritas. That day, Gutierrez also plans to debut al pastor slow-roasted on a spinning trompo, which will be added to the Choza lineup soon after.

The patio pop-up is a trial run, Gutierrez notes — a way to gauge public interest and test menu items for a possible future standalone concept. Now married with two kids of his own, Gutierrez is keenly aware of the importance of family legacy, which he hopes to continue to build by honoring traditions, but with his own modern spin.

Choza is located on the patio at 3 Margaritas, 6896 West 120th Avenue in Broomfield. It is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. For more information, follow it @choza_co on Instagram or call 303-410-8705 for reservations.