Get ready for Big Azz margaritas, grande nachos and burritos in the ‘burbs: The ninth Pittsburgh location of Mad Mex opens Monday at 11 a.m. in Waterworks Shopping Plaza.
The newest location that’s debuting in the former La Cappella space (1041 Freeport Rd., near Aspinwall) is timed with the restaurant’s 25th anniversary year. It seats 170 people and will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight daily.
“So much art!” says Bill Fuller, president of Big Burrito Restaurant Group. “Wait till you see!” Each location of Mad Mex features murals from artists such as Richard Bach.
Located on eastern edge of the plaza, it’s the thirteenth location of Mad Mex; the last one to open was in Canonsburg two years ago.
View this post on InstagramSOON finally has a date! See you December 3 at 11am at Mad Mex Waterworks! #getmexy #openingSOON
Happy hour will run from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at this location, featuring 22-ounce Big Azz margaritas for $7, a 5-ounce house margarita for $3 or a 16-ounce one for $5. Also look for half-off draft beers and wings during happy hour. The location will also run Late Mex deals from 10 p.m. to midnight.
Expect the 25th-anniversary menu additions to carry over to the new location: Food and beverage director Matt Glick has them marked on the menu by a silver fox icon, which includes dishes like empanadas with a tomato black bean salsa; a crab and avocado quesadilla; and pork belly tacos with mango salsa.
Big Burrito Restaurant Group has also been working on another suburban location in Fox Chapel, having signed a lease back in April where it will open its first new concept in well over a decade in O’Hara, in the spot that had been Donato’s Fox Chapel at 46 Fox Chapel Rd.
The last new concept for the group was Eleven in 2004 in the Strip District.
Back in the ’90s, when Tom Baron and Juno Yoon opened Mad Mex, the restaurant debuted with its now familiar Cal-Mex cuisine, giant margaritas and good beer — positioning itself as an early player to the craft beer craze that’s now dominating restaurant beer lists and fueling local brewery destinations.
Melissa McCart: mmccart@post-gazette.com
First Published: November 29, 2018, 5:00 p.m.