El Guadalajara owner opens another restaurant in Tacoma, this time near the mall

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Vietnamese restaurant La Ca Bar opening in the old Mexican restaurant space on Sixth Avenue.

Reader Neva Topolski had one question.

What happened to El Guadalajara, the restaurant that used to call that space home?

Until recently, I wondered as well. Then I saw a familiar name pop up in public records for a Tacoma restaurant: Alfonso Ramos.

He was the owner of El Guadalajara, which operated in the Stadium neighborhood until he moved it to Sixth Avenue in 2010.

When Ramos left Tacoma, he stayed in the restaurant business. He opened a restaurant called Los Agaves in Belfair in 2015, then another in Centralia in 2016.

And a few weeks ago, he opened a third restaurant. This time in Tacoma.

Agaves Grill opened in the space formerly occupied by the Funky Iguana, which closed in November.

The space has transformed into a handsome restaurant serving lunch and dinner daily.

Gone are the Victoria beer flags that hung from the ceiling and casual taqueria vibe. The mismatched booths and chairs have been replaced with cushy booths, a mix of high- and low-top seating. There’s also now a bar that’s cordoned off into a separate space with moody lighting and late hours on the weekend.

Here’s a first-bite look at the restaurant. It’s this paper’s policy to avoid criticism of food and service during a restaurant’s first month.

The bar: Find a list of 40 tequilas representing 17 brands. They’re working on printing a specialty cocktail menu, but the bar offers eight flavored margaritas, blended or on the rocks.

The menu: Molcajete, a boiling stone pot filled with chile-spiked and grilled meats and vegetables, is a specialty, with a meat or seafood version, $25 each.

Also find the usual Mexican-American restaurant fare of tacos, torta sandwiches, enchiladas, burritos, fajitas and combination plates. Dinner plates start around $10.99-$11.99.

Remember the: El Guadalajara burrito? It’s still on the menu, just listed as the Agaves Burrito. The burrito comes with a choice of meats and is dressed with avocado and salsa.

For vegetarians: You can’t go wrong with the sizzling platter of fajitas with mushrooms, squash, onions, peppers and broccoli ($13.99). Served with whole beans, rice, tortillas, pico, guacamole and sour cream.

Don’t miss: Mushroom pico de gallo, served with chips at the beginning of every meal.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 2:00 PM with the headline "El Guadalajara owner opens another restaurant in Tacoma, this time near the mall."