Northeast’s next bar shakes up Mexican and Asian flavors in a beloved restaurant space

Longtime local bartender Danny Guerrero and business partner Luis Puentes will open Mestiizo Bar, (337 13th Av. NE) ahead of the holidays with ambitious plans to blend Latin and Asian flavors. “This is something that I’ve been dreaming of for at least the past seven years,” Guerrero said.

It’s the latest hospitality business to occupy the space that once housed the long-running Modern Cafe, the Sheridan Room and most recently ALT Burger, which closed at the beginning of this year.

For Minneapolis cocktail fans, Guerrero is likely a familiar face. For the past 15 years, he’s been behind the bars at Hola Arepa, Martina and Colita, as well as a part of the Behind a Bar collective. “It was at Rabbit Hole when I got introduced to craft cocktails and the fusion of flavors,” said Guerrero of the former Korean gastropub in Midtown Global Market.

That early spark of inspiration led to years of study and travel where he discovered a thread he bound together, weaving the cultures of his native Mexico and Latin America to connections with Japan and other parts of Asia. The way Mexicans revere corn relates to Japan’s relationship with rice: the way a humble grain can become so many different things, from food to alcohol.

“The more I researched and traveled, I really found a similarity,” said Guerrero.

It’s in that blending that Mestiizo draws its name — a term referring to someone of Indigenous and Spanish heritage.

For the cocktails, he’s collaborating with bar lead Angel Torres, familiar to regulars at Oro by Nixta. The tidy menu includes a vesper martini with tepache vermouth, yuzu gin and Mexican vodka finished with tropical bitters. There’s also a piña colada with notes of green curry spice. The Paloma, one of Guerrero’s favorite drinks, is made with chile-washed reposado. Which is to say nothing of the Old Fashioned made with Japanese whisky, Mexican brandy and sweetened with piloncillo.

For the decor, Guerrero is working primarily with Latin artists. He’s getting ready to travel to his home town in Jalisco to pick up the centerpiece for the bar: a large, hand-beaded stag head from an Huichol artist.

The fabled address that will house all these big ideas has come a long way. “It was in rough shape,” he said. But they’ve been working hard at deep cleaning, painting and refreshing the room while maintaining the old bar’s built in comforts."

Mestiizo’s target opening is early December.