Undeterred by their Kafkaesque struggles with the local community board over the stellar cocktail lounge Death & Co., two of that bar's owners have boldly branched out with a second establishment on the very same street. Named Mayahuel after the Aztec goddess of fertility, this cozy, bi-level temple to tequila and mezcal is unofficially open now. The menu by cocktail craftsman Phil Ward consists of almost two dozen mezcal and tequila cocktails ($13 each), plus a few beer cocktails, some punch, and sangria.
There's also a small plates menu (see below), featuring empanadas, plantains, tamales, and some very spicy popcorn. It's a sexy-looking place, but a recent visit convinced us that downstairs is the place to be—on Saturday night the second level lounge was a bit stuffy and cacophonous, with too many fratastic tools blathering about how they discovered Mayahuel through a trendy lifestyle newsletter. Instead, secure a seat at one of the intimate little downstairs booths or gather around the bar to let Ward's passion for mezcal work its magic. Below, a look at the food menu and what goes into two of his cocktails.
Mayahuel // 304 East 6th Street // "Soft open" now, with an official opening May 1st. 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly.
Beef empanada, picante verde
Tacitos:
Barbacoa (slow braised pork)
Camaron (spiced shrimp)
Cabrrito (baby lamb)
Served w salsa verde and pico de gallo
Tamales de raja y queso: sweet corn tamales with roasted poblano peppers and cotija cheese
* Shrimp and Chorizo
* Pallomas de maiz: Popped corn with chili, lime and cotija cheese
* Queso fondante con chorizo: fondue of cheese with chorizo sausage
* Tortillas; crisp corn with guacamole, salsa verde, smoked tomato
* Ceviche de chillo - snapper cevice marinated with agave and lime
Cocktails
(All measurements in ounces unless otherwise specified)
Watermelon sugar
2 (1x1) cubes of watermelon
.5 sugarcane syrup
.75 lime
.5 los amantes joven mescal
1.5 heradura silver
*Shake and serve up in a coupe rimmed w salt, sugar and cayenne
The Git Ur Lapsang Souchong
.5 madhava amber agave nectar
.75 lime
2 blanco tequila infused w lapsong tea
2 dash agustora bitters
*Shake (not with ice), pour over crushed ice, top w jarritos tamarind soda, garnish w limewheel
