Adios Bar and Salud Taqueria: Jesus Mendez's Passion for Authentic Mexican Flavors in Birmingham

What if you could recreate the flavors of Mexico City street food right in the heart of Alabama? Join us on this flavorful journey as we sit down with Jesus Mendez, co-founder of the renowned Adios Bar and the upcoming Salud Taqueria in downtown Birmingham. Jesus shares his rich heritage, rooted in the aromatic and soulful cuisine of his Latino culture, and how he's transforming the Birmingham culinary scene with his authentic Mexican street food. From homemade corn tortillas to the complex flavors of El Pastor and suadero, Jesus reveals the traditional methods and fresh ingredients that make his menu a gastronomic delight.

Discover the passion and dedication behind Jesus's culinary ventures as he recounts his travels to culinary hotspots like LA, New York City, and Miami, absorbing diverse styles of Mexican food. Hear about his journey from working in big-time restaurants to creating a dining experience that honors his heritage and elevates it. Whether you're a food enthusiast or an aspiring entrepreneur, this episode offers a tantalizing glimpse into the world of authentic Mexican cuisine and the dedication it takes to bring such vibrant flavors to life. Get ready to be inspired and maybe even a little hungry! #GNPNorthport #SaludTaqueria #AdiosBar #BirminghamFoodie #BirminghamTacos #BirminghamBars #taqueria #tacos #mexicanfood #foodie #taco #BirminghamMexicanFood

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.

Speaker 2: 0:15

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, patricia Blondheim, and today we have good neighbor Jesus Mendes. And Jesus is the co-founder of Adios Bar, which was nominated as one of the top 10 cocktail bars in the nation the soon-to-be Salud Taqueria and they are both in downtown Birmingham. Jesus, how are you today?

Speaker 3: 0:38

Patricia, I'm great. Thank you for finally having me on your podcast. I'm honored.

Speaker 2: 0:43

Oh, I'm so glad to see you here. You gave me such a mouthful. These are not the only things you've done with your life, so it's going to be a long podcast if we have to talk about everything that you've done, but I'm really anxious to hear about Salud first of all, and Adios.

Speaker 3: 1:00

Yeah, definitely, both of these concepts are really rooted more of my backgrounds.

Speaker 2: 1:08

as a 35 year old, I, me and a couple of partners have a Dios bar and now building Salud, which I'm aiming I know people always have this hard misconception, but I'm aiming it for to be a true, authentic, fast, casual Mexican restaurant in the center of Birmingham okay, just you don't know this about me, but I'm a California native, Grew up there and my parents grew up there and my grandparents grew up there, so it's been there for a very long time and my life was deeply rooted in Latino culture and in Mexican food honestly Latino culture and in.

Speaker 2: 2:05

Mexican food honestly, but not Mexican food that you get in Mexican food restaurants. I'm talking about the kind of Mexican food that you can taste in your nose. It is just deeply loving and aromatic and fresh and not covered in cheese.

Speaker 3: 2:29

Yeah, that touches, your soul.

Speaker 2: 2:32

Please tell me a little bit about your menu.

Speaker 3: 2:36

Okay. So my menu has been based off of a lot of my research and developments that I've done not just in my career, because I've worked in big time restaurants like Margarita Grill in Pelham. I used to work at Coutinho Superior. I understand the Taco Mama market and now I'm very, very blessed that I can travel to LA I was in LA earlier this year New York City, miami and just taste different, different restaurants and most specifically is different styles of Mexican food.

Speaker 3: 3:11

So here we're aiming more for a Mexico City street style concept. So homemade corn tortillas I'll have a lady in the bag making them fresh. We're doing pollo en carne asada with a delicious marinade and that would all be on on the grill. We're bringing in very unique meats like El Pastor, el Trompo. A lot of Mexican restaurants and trucks here are kind of just marinating it and then tossing it on the skillet, which is fine. But we're going a little bit more complex and and putting it on like a halal style burner. So it kind of just it's a roti, like a rotisserie, with their own spices and marinades and and roasted peppers and that's. We're very excited to bring that out. And then suadero, which is my personal favorite and very similar to a beet brisket. Uh, we simmer that and then we uh cook that on a concave stove with other animal fats and aromatics, and it creates a very lean, juicy, tender and semi-crispy meat that you'll put on your taco, your burritos and your quesadilla.

Speaker 2: 4:24

Wonderful. Tell our listeners a little bit about your journey. Jesus, how did you, how did you end up here?

Speaker 3: 4:30

our listeners a little bit about your journey, jesus. How did you, how did you end up here? Okay, um, well, it's being organic about it. I'm very I'm here in the States because my I'm very, my dad gave me the opportunity to bring me into this country. You know it's um, it's as an immigrant. It is the land of the free, it's the land of opportunities and my parents really engraved in my spirit and my work ethic to just really be here and be the best that I can and work and take advantage of these opportunities that we don't get back in our homeland, in Pelham, alabama.

Speaker 3: 5:09

And one of the biggest changes and things that kind of pushed me into Birmingham, alabama, which is my community now, was actually a divorce that I went through. So just the lifestyle change, the failure as a husband and not really knowing as a 25-year-old who I was or what I wanted to become, Birmingham just kind of really took me in. They embraced me, they, they, they honored my work ethic and I was able to just really really work for great companies like Taco Mama and Frankstead over at Highlands Bar and Grill, bottega and Chez Fon Fon, and I really engulfed myself into working in these companies and learning more about food culture, learning about the food culture here in Birmingham and understanding my palate and my sensories and my smell, and just realizing that I love food and my love language is food. So I decided to combine those two and just create concepts that I can share with my community and my partners and concepts that people will be very, very proud of.

Speaker 3: 6:23

Like I was mentioning earlier, adios being named top 10 in the country. Me and my business partner, Jose, are very proud of that acknowledgement. But end of the day, we're not top 10 if the community doesn't come out and support us. End of the day, if no one comes out and drinks or eats with us, then no one knows about it, then we don't get any nominations. So me personally, I I love what I do and I and I do it for the people and because I want it's something that I want people to be proud of.

Speaker 2: 6:49

So you were nominated, not top 10 in Birmingham, not top 10 in Alabama, but top 10 in the country, top 10 in the country cocktail bars in the nation. So you have made your life about raising standards, about raising up your city by raising up your standards. Tell me a little bit about how do you see your restaurant doing that?

Speaker 3: 7:23

My new restaurant, my restaurant, will be based around my people, be based around my people. Um, I I've been, I've been. I feel like I've been given the secret recipe of success by realizing that I can't, I can't do this alone. And it's not a, it's not an envy thing, it's not a jealousy thing, it's not a selfish thing. I can't get to the top without the support of my staff, without the support of my partners, without the support of my staff, without the support of my partners, without the support of my family and also giving them credit for my success.

Speaker 3: 7:59

I believe Salud will be acknowledged and will have recognitions around the city, because I come from a resume of great hospitality who also carried great standards, and I'm planning to implement that among my staff by empowering them and teaching them and setting standards. And also, when I win, they win. When they win, I win as well. And, at the same time, whenever my community and our guests and our customers come in, it's honestly making them feel at home and feel like some sort of ownership of the restaurant as well, because that's what we do. As a Mexican man, like Mexican families, when you come to my dad's house and, by the way, my parents will be cooking with me at Salud. Like we treat everybody like family, like it's just part of our just it's part of our culture, and we can't wait to showcase that at Salud Taqueria as well.

Speaker 2: 8:56

I mean just as an aside. I did grow up very, very and very, very much in the culture of Southern California, which is very, very heavily Latino, and I miss for those people out there who don't know what that is. There is such tremendous warmth and love that comes from the Hispanic culture and it's read through food, it's read through hospitality, it's read through just a day-to-day interaction. I am so proud to have you be part of this community and so proud for this community to know more about what I grew up loving. What do you and it seems like this is an incredibly joyful place for your life to be to be in community and in family, but when you have time for fun, jesus, what do you? What do you do to fill your own cup?

Speaker 3: 9:54

Man, I'm having fun now. Um I, I genuinely love what I do. Um I? At first I really had to get out of my head and realize that the opportunities that I have and the community and the projects and the partners that I have aren't a job. It really is like a blessing to do what I love.

Speaker 3: 10:22

So, me personally, if I'm not on the floor working which brings me joy because I get to connect with people and serve people then I travel. I like some. Like Thursday I'm going to Nashville to look at some restaurants and some new bars that are opening up just to like, just to like really embrace their hospitality, their cocktails, their food, and understand and ask questions and ask to look at the kitchen. I stay I me on my personal level. I stay working out as well, just to clear my mind. I read books more on leadership and hospitality. If not, then I genuinely do spend it with my. Most of my time with my family and my friends, but other than that, I most about 70% of my time is revolved around food, like, like the food and beverage.

Speaker 2: 11:14

Jesus, what would you like our listeners to take away about Adios Bar and Salud Taqueria.

Speaker 3: 11:22

Oh, I think the best thing is, um is, how would I say it? There is always a misconception about Mexican food. Um, so I have another small restaurant inside the Pazitz food hall called Unos Tacos and I it didn't bother me, but it but it really triggered me because I had a guest come up and I was a cashier at that moment. And this person comes up and she looks at me like hey, is your food authentic? And I look at her and I'm like I, I claim my food to be authentic. And then and they're like all right, well, let me order this order that they go off and they come back. And then they're like, hey, this food is not authentic. And I was. I was just really confused. I'm like what, what, like what? What part of my, of my, of my mexican food is not authentic to you?

Speaker 3: 12:18

And her response was like, well, I'm from texas and we have real texas food and blah, blah, I let her have her spill, I'll let her have her moment. And then I like, ma'am, can I have the moment to talk? And she was like, yeah, mexico is not just one place. Mexico is divided in multiple different regions, different states, different histories, different recipes, different spices, different cultures. We all cook differently. I'm going to set the example of pizza. A New York pizza is completely different than a deep dish pizza from chicago. It's still pizza, but it's different, you know. So it doesn't take away someone's style of cooking. And then I told that lady, look, I have my parents back there, who are mexicans, cooking this food for you. Do you want to go back there and tell these mexican people that their food is not real?

Speaker 3: 13:13

or or what and when and when we had that conversation, she was like no, like I completely understand now, like thank you for, for explaining, like the regions of mexico, which was what ended up happening, and it was a great conversation. But that's what I want. I want people to look at our brands and be like wait, let me go in there and ask questions, experience it, taste it. I know my food won't be for everybody, but it doesn't mean that I'm not serving real Mexican food.

Speaker 2: 13:42

How can listeners find you? I'm sorry, I'm laughing. Yeah, how can listeners learn more about Adios, the cocktail bar, and Salud the taqueria.

Speaker 3: 13:58

The easiest way would be Instagram. Adios is already established and you see all of our events or hours of operations. If we have a private event and we're closing, any updates on anything and that will be adiosbeham on Instagram. And then for Salud, we're still under construction and we hope to be open by August. No specific date just yet, but they are more than welcome to follow us and look at our journey, because I post construction. I post when there's a new update. I do that strategically because I want everybody to be part of the journey. You know I don't I want them to like. My first post is the restaurant completely empty, and my most recent post is like the AC unit is in, the kitchen is being built, the bar is being built, and that one is Salud Beham on Instagram as well.

Speaker 2: 14:51

Gosh, it feels like a pregnancy.

Speaker 3: 14:53

Yeah, there you go. Everybody wants to be part of the pregnancy.

Speaker 2: 14:58

Jesus, it's been a joy. Thank you so much for everything you do, bringing everything that you bring into this community, and for coming and speaking to us today.

Speaker 3: 15:08

Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 1: 15:11

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbirminghamcom. That's gnpbirminghamcom, or call 205-952-0148.