Espiritu Is the Most Exciting Thing in Downtown Mesa
If you’re dying to go to Bacanora but can’t get a reservation (or don’t want to drive), just head over to Espiritu in downtown Mesa. The food isn’t exactly the same, but the DNA is all there. Bold flavors, lots of meat (and seafood), cool vibes. And as an added bonus, the cocktails are pretty incredible… which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise given that Espritu is probably more of a cocktail bar serving great food rather than a restaurant serving great cocktails.
Where: Downtown Mesa
Website: espiritumesa.com
Reservations: Toast
Tip: Just assume you’re going to get at least two cocktails.
Found On
Espiritu Has 7 Yumpoints
FEB 1, 2024
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Make your way to an intimate setting, where hanging plants and rattan-covered lamps set the scene for an exquisite dinner. Espiritu specializes in creating modern Mexican cuisine with a focus on seafood dishes and ingenious cocktails. Bite into the ceviche mixto, taking in fresh ingredients such as poached shrimp and cured fish. This tasty spot is a local favorite and a hidden gem, so come taste it for yourself.
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Emerging Chef
JAN 16, 2024 / FELICIA CAMPBELL
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Once you’re within a block of Espiritu on Main Street in Mesa, you’ll smell the burning mesquite. Follow your nose and head inside the Mexican gothic cocktail bar, grab a barstool and order a La Toxica — mezcal, pineapple amaro, Xila agave liqueur, spiced chai and egg whites. If you’re just there for a nibble, get the smoked white fish, which comes with slices of intensely garlicy sourdough bread and house-brined cauliflower, carrots and cucumber pickles. Sounds simple, tastes revolutionary.
NOV 9, 2023 / NIKKI BUCHANAN AND JAMIE KILLIN
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It’s hard to say what’s more important at this modern Mexican restaurant with a beautiful backbar: the cocktails or the seafood-centric food prepared by chef Roberto Centeno. Savvy customers dip into both. That said, the cocktail menu — replete with illustrations, descriptions, and goofy jokes — makes an entertaining read, and the drinks live up to all the hype.
SEP 6, 2023 / NIKKI BUCHANAN
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The talented crew behind Bacanora also gets the credit for lively Espiritu, a seafood-centric Mexican restaurant in Mesa, recently named one of the best new restaurants of the year by Eater. At first blush, the emphasis seems to be on drinking, given the lengthy (and humorously written) cocktail menu devoted to beverages both “stirredeth” and “shakeneth,” as well as a selection of Mexican spirits such as sotol and raicilla. But chef Robert Centeno’s short but provocative menu features hiramasa tostada, spicy aguachile, and sharp, bright ceviche brimming with shrimp, fish, and octopus.
MAY 5, 2023 / LAUREN MILLINGTON
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Downtown Mesa got a major upgrade with last year’s addition of Espiritu. This bustling spot is the sister restaurant to the acclaimed Bacanora in downtown Phoenix and adds a stylish, high-end dining option to Mesa’s main street. Look for the restaurant with the busy chef out front grilling fragrant meats and vegetables on a wood-fired grill right on the sidewalk.
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In February, just a few weeks before Rene Andrade was nominated for a James Beard Award for his work at Bacanora in Phoenix, he and his cousin, Roberto Centeno (with whom he shares chef duties at Espiritu), quietly opened this cocktail-centric companion piece in Mesa. I slipped in a few days after opening and immediately disappeared, mentally and physically, into a bowl of mussels and clams ($28), their haunting take on a traditional broth-and-mussels bowl, here done as a simmering birria consommé spiced with chiltepin pepper and jeweled with bits of chorizo.
