The word is finally in about what restaurateur Adriano Paganini is doing with the former Betelnut space at 2030 Union Street, next door to his restaurant Belga: It will be a second Mexican outpost after his successful casual downtown Mexican concept Uno Dos Tacos, but it's not going to be Uno Dos Tacos. As Eater reports, there's no timeframe yet for when the margaritas and tacos will start flowing, and no name for the place, but Paganini's chef/partner in Uno Dos Tacos, Luis Flores, is driving the concept, which will be "contemporary Mexican."
Inside Scoop has some further details, saying we can expect "fresh tortillas made on-site using masa ground in-house, roasted meats available by the pound, carnitas, sopes, [and] mole."
After closing a year ago, Betelnut has sat dark, and we learned in July that Paganini had snapped it up for his ever growing Back of the House restaurant empire.
Last week, Paganini gave an interview to Eater in which he talked about 20-restaurant Bay Area empire, which includes the ever popular Beretta, Delarosa, and Starbelly, as well fast-food chain Super Duper, and Argentinian-style steakhouse Lolinda. He talked about how he now presides over a team about 900 people strong, and "In pretty much all of our concepts, we have one or two people that are either part-owners or they're very passionate about that particular concept and they're there doing the day-to-day." He mentioned Flores specifically, saying, "he's also a guy that has worked with me for 15 years. He was at Pasta Pomodoro, then at Beretta, and he's Mexican and he's passionate about Mexican food. His family had a restaurant in Mexico, so we said let's do a Mexican restaurant. I'm also passionate about Mexican food because I love it, but that's not enough. I need someone else to have that passion."
In addition to this project, Paganini also has a forthcoming, unnamed restaurant in Hayes Valley, at 450 Hayes Street, and a chicken-sandwich fast-casual concept called The Bird announced last month, coming to 115 New Montgomery Street.