Hello, Is It Me You’re Looking For?

[October 8th, 2008]

“So, you’ll be trying to draw in some of the Marathon crowd from across the street?” I ask Andrew Mechow, owner of newly opened Tequilas Muertos (1650 W Burnside St., 222-1507). “Well, mostly right now we’re just trying to draw in anyone.” He’s got a point. It’s barely past 10 pm on a Thursday night and looks like it’s just him, me and the pleasant Shania Twain doppelganger of a bar girl left. A shame, as the six-weeks-young bar, located in the spot on West Burnside Street and 16th Avenue vacated by Demetri’s Greek restaurant, seems to have a lot going for it—dual bars on two levels with big screens, pool tables and an intriguing “9-hole Carolina ringer course” (a fun traditional pub game where one aims a swinging hoop toward wall hooks spread across the bar). Eight beers are on tap, including sturdy $3.75 pints of Alameda IPA and malty Klamath Basin Drop Dead Red. The main draw is the selection of 25 tequilas and a nicely poured, pint-sized $6 bloody “Maria” that hits the spot dead-on. Tequilas Muertos’ food menu is creatively themed but limited, and while the Street Corn was tasty (it’s a chipotle-mayo-coated, cotija-cheese-rolled and paprika-sprayed cob, “just like street vendors’ in Mexico”), I’m not sure I’d want to make a habit of spending $5 on a cob of corn. All in all, Mechow’s bar is pretty impressive. Hopefully innovative promotions, like Thursday’s opportunity to frat it up with a $20 “bracelet of fun” (providing open access to Coors Light and jungle-juice kegs), should keep Muertos alive long enough to find a crowd.