Patron

It looks like a new Mexican restaurant is opening up in our neighborhood called Patron.


It describes itself as an "upscale Mexican restaurant" and the chef has worked at similar places like Dos Caminos. The sign designs don't scream "upscale" to me, but I guess we'll see how it turns out.


This spot on 9th Avenue most recently housed a bar/lounge called Flavors. Before that it was a Brazilian place called Bossa Nova that I heard was just OK so we never went. Sometime before that it was a French brasserie. We went there for an impromptu Valentines Day dinner one year (can't find photos of it right now). It was fine, a little heavy, but it didn't last too long.

I like Mexican food (including the American Mexican food like Chevy's) and table-side guacamole (one of the few things I remember from the sign), so here's hoping it clicks in this spot. The location Maoz now has on 8th Avenue near 43rd Street used to be another bad location - first it was Empanada Joe's and then a string of failed pizza places - but it seems to be doing OK there. It's always nice to see a location break its "curse."