New Mexican restaurant, sports bar opening in familiar Lexington location
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- Xencia Bites and Bar will open at 1983 N. Broadway, in former Cosmic Fry location.
- Restaurant will offer regional Mexican dishes, mole poblano and homemade tortillas.
- Bar will offer burgers and bar fare; weekends will feature live Spanish music at Xencia.
A new Mexican restaurant and bar is coming to the north side of Lexington.
Xencia Bites and Bar will be opening at 1983 N. Broadway, the former location of Cosmic Fry and, before that, Horseshoes.
Xencia, pronounced “escencia” as in the Spanish word for essence, will have a Mexican restaurant on one side and a sports bar on the other, said owner Yadira Loaeza.
She said the bar area will have burgers and traditional bar fare, but the restaurant side will have Mexican food.
What will make this restaurant stand out from the other Mexican restaurants in town?
The menu of home-style favorites made from recipes from her mother and grandmother.
This will not be the familiar fajitas and enchiladas of Tex-Mex, she said.
“This will be more homemade tortillas, soups, special dishes, more regional cuisines,” Loaeza said. “My family is from Puebla, so we’ll have more of those seasonings.”
Some items will be familiar, such as rice and beans, but she said they plan to have more fresh ingredients.
And they will take the spice level up a notch, she said.
Her husband is from Oaxaca, she said, “and they have a richer, more known food culture.”
Oaxaca cuisine is known for its moles, in particular.
One of the signature dishes Xencia will have will be mole poblano, she said.
She said they also expect to have vegetarian quesadillas, “but not like the ones you’re used to. They will be more like empanadas with fillings like mushroom, cactus and potatoes,” she said.
Because she and her husband also have a background in events promotion, they have ties to the Spanish music scene and plan to have live music at Xencia on weekends.
They hope to open the restaurant by early March and will be open for lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesday. On weekends, they will stay open later.
