Tacos and tequila in Paradise

Cojones Tacos and Tequila will drop new location this fall

Paradise residents with a desire for Mexican street food and tequila-based cocktails will soon have their watering mouths satiated.

While the official opening date hasn’t been announced yet, Cojones Tacos and Tequila, which has been open on Water Street in St. John's since April 1, 2019, will open the doors to its new location at 1483 Topsail Rd. sometime in late November or early December, says co-owner Lorne Loder.

“Paradise has been an underserviced area for a long time now. For the most part, there’s only fast-food establishments out there. There’s really not much available in a sit-down environment,” Loder said.

“We feel we’ve gotten to a point where Cojones (location on) Water Street is organized and running well, so we thought we’d try the same concept (in Paradise).”

Though the past year-anda-half has been filled with unforeseeable obstacles for local business, Loder said the hands-on, active approach has allowed Cojones to work well with whatever situation it's faced, including the COVID19 pandemic.

“But even outside of COVID, the concept … it’s a little brash, it’s fun, it’s casual. People like margaritas and tacos,” Loder said.

Head chef Howard Brown says their food is meant to taste, smell and look similar to dishes from different regions of Mexico and the southern United States, but with a focus on local ingredients — moose and cod are on the menu, for instance — and adapted to what locals are more likely to devour.

“If you went to a Mexican street market in Mexico, you’d find some of the similar names, at least, of what we do. It’s more casual fare. It’s not pretentious or high-end, it’s more or less to feed the masses,” Brown said. “We offer a big variety of items and we have the capacity to tone down spicing so that it should appeal to a large audience.”

Brown started working with Cojones last year and said the exploration of Mexican cuisine has been a culinary adventure, as he gets to experiment with imported Mexican staples like ancho chili powder and annatto seed paste and cheeses and meats from closer to home.

“We try to build the flavours; it’s not just simply putting a bottle of hot sauce on there,” he said.

Loder said the design and layout will be similar to Water Street, but with a larger, custom-designed kitchen.

There will also be the launch of an upgraded menu at both restaurants once the newer location is opened.

“From all the feedback we’ve heard from hundreds of people on social media and just word of mouth on the street, the reaction has been incredibly positive,” he said.

“There’s a lot of people out there who don’t want to get a $50 or $60 cab ride downtown and back each way. This will be an eating, drinking establishment in the heart of Paradise, so it really opens up options for people.”

In the spring, the fully accessible restaurant will open a large patio, placed on the west side of the building so the sun can beam down on it from noon until sundown, he said.

And because they consider Paradise more of a family market, Brown said the menu will be taking that into account.

“We’ll try to have a menu that will appeal to the whole family and then with fun aspects of being able to share things,” Brown said.