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El Dorado Cantina’s Tivoli Village location could open this week

It looks like the Tivoli Village location of El Dorado Cantina may finally open to the public this weekend. It will, however, do so without the aid of the original location’s longtime chef, Francisco “Paco” Cortes, who left the company late last year.

While no formal opening date is set for the long-delayed new space, we’re told the El Dorado team is hoping to “soft open” as early as lunchtime Friday. Once they open the doors, the 266-seat restaurant is expected to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The new El Dorado will add some Latin touches to the menu, alongside the Mexican cuisine that made its Sammy Davis Jr. Drive location a hit. Those come courtesy of the company’s new executive chef, Sean Bernal, and include Baja lobster, Cuban chicken soup and ropa vieja (shredded slow-cooked beef with stewed red peppers, onions and garlic). Bernal is a veteran of the company’s Miami outpost, El Dorado 305. In the meantime, Cortes tells us he’s working on a new restaurant, which he expects to open this summer.

Contact Al Mancini at amancini@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlManciniVegas on Twitter and Instagram.

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