Julio Bermejo turned Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant into a true epicenter for tequila.
• Though it’s known for the namesake Tommy’s Margarita, the bar is happy to fire up the blender for frozen Margs, too.
• For the truly dedicated, Tommy’s Blue Agave Club is an intensive, membership-based training program that—upon completion of a written exam—offers graduates access to an especially rare, secret, 100-bottle tequila list.
NICE TO KNOW
Trad’r Sam, the longest continuously operating tiki bar in the country, is on the same block and is still as kitschy as ever. A few blocks in the other direction, Dragon Beaux is a beloved dim sum spot that’s also BYOB.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
Julio and Elmy Bermejo.
There is perhaps no restaurant in America that can claim more influence on the way we drink tequila today than Tommy’s. Opened in 1965 by Tommy and Elmy Bermejo, the restaurant has maintained a following among Richmond natives and tourists for the family’s brand of Yucatán cooking. But the tequila selection, among the deepest and most reasonably priced in the country, has become its own draw over the last several decades—and that’s to say nothing of the restaurant’s namesake Margarita. In the late 1980s, the Bermejos’ son, Julio, stepped behind the bar and began his process of earning the restaurant a slot in the pantheon of modern drinks. The Tommy’s Margarita, which eschewed Curaçao in favor of agave syrup and relied exclusively on 100 percent agave tequila (a rarity at the time) and fresh lime, grew alongside the tequila collection’s bottles. By 1999, as Robert Simonson writes, Bermejo “carried 110, an astounding number even today.” The bar world’s luminaries took notice, eventually spreading the good word about Bermejo’s Margarita, so much so that the Tommy’s Margarita went on to become not just a modern classic, but the industry’s Margarita of record. Today, the tequila selection remains one of the country’s best and, if you’re lucky, you may even be able to enjoy a Tommy’s Margarita at the hands of its inventor.
Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant
Website
Instagram
OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPS
Around the corner on Grand Street, Fresh Kills (from Richie Boccato) has been quietly serving some of the best cocktails in Brooklyn for nearly a decade.
NOTABLE AND NEARBY
• When outdoor seating is available, the wisteria-draped garden (book ahead on Resy) might fool you into thinking you’re somewhere between Louisiana and Provence.
• While Maison excels at the A-list classics, look closely and you’ll find lovingly executed takes on B-side hits, like the Yellow Parrot and the Obituary, that make the case for revival.
NICE TO KNOW
An essential guide to the bars and retailers that have turned Oakland into an epicenter of progressive wine culture.
New York's Essential Martinis
READ MORE
Julio Bermejo turned Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant into a true epicenter for tequila.
Elmy Bermejo opened the restaurant in 1965 with her late husband, Tommy.