Starch has been a vehicle of dining pleasure since food first bled into art. Shaved bits of mutton with dilly tzatziki arrive in a stone-flamed pita, and baguettes serve as the crusty pusher to noodles up and down the boot. But one savory handheld is left unrivaled: mashed corn flour rolled and pressed to hold dripping bits of asada, crunchy kernels of elote, and a whole lot of hot sauce—the corn tortilla.
Just as the tortilla’s heritage spans recipes from Colombia to Southern California, new restaurant Mejicali on West Main Street features broadly inspired collaborations between restaurateurs Johnny Ornelas and River Hawkins.
Ornelas and Hawkins—known for the Ornelas family’s chain of Guadalajara Mexican restaurants and Hawkins’ involvement as co-owner and mixologist of The Bebedero—riff like lifelong friends behind a pale-blue bartop, designed to reflect the California coastline. “We felt there was a hunger to quench here,” says Ornelas, while thumbing a handful of limes in his palm. “This place encompasses our home, our habitat.” After meeting in one of Hawkins’ mezcal classes, the duo agreed to go in on a venture to celebrate the feel and flavor of their childhoods.
Mejicali’s menu is a street flare twist on classic Latin dishes, a culture the partners picked up from growing up around Los Angeles and their culinary travels worldwide. For instance, the Chicha Gimlet is a gin cocktail mixed with a corn chicha morada mixer served in a bag that gives a floral refresh reminiscent of sipping agua frescas along the tepache-splattered streets of Mexico City.
“We want you to use as many senses as you can attach to a cocktail,” says Hawkins, who engineered Mejicali’s drink list to introduce unique concepts to those willing to be courageous. While the specialty drinks feature everything from drops of matcha oil to hints of ceviche juice, the bar offers more than 60 rotating mezcals and tequilas, including a handful that are chilled and on tap.
The food menu beats like the lively pulse of a street food market. Everything is served to be shared and on the move, whether at your table or on your way to the stage. The Esquite Bombs layer a fluffy street-corn center, bringing a coarse earthiness to contrast the bright touch of cilantro in a croquette-esque ball topped with a Takis crunch.
Hawkins was able to use Mejicali’s space as an opportunity to express some of the eclectic styles he’d wanted to share from back home, which he believes could be a fresh pop in Charlottesville. “You always find a way to incorporate the art,” he describes, standing under one of his hand-painted murals as he looks through a fresh case of mezcals to be tasted in his class that evening.
Like a well-crafted cocktail, Mejicali blends ingredients in the name of art. “I’d make the Mona Lisa out of macaroni,” laughs Hawkins. The walls are dripping with expression—from Hawkins’ hand-painted low rider-inspired murals to the Lucha Libre stained glass leading to the patio.
“We spent our lives trying to fit into something that didn’t exist,” says Ornelas, detailing how Mejicali allows the partners to take the reins creatively and offer patrons a taste of ’90s Cali-Mex al pastor on hand-rolled tortillas or a mezcal cocktail. Mejicali gives Charlottesvillians a space to escape to somewhere else, and for Ornelas and Hawkins, it’s a place to go home to.