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Mexico City restaurant group opens its 1st location in Las Vegas

Updated June 27, 2023 - 5:59 pm

CDMX marks the spot for aguachile with tiger prawns, ribeye tacos, chicken mole enchiladas and sweet smoky spicy street corn salad.

La Popular CDMX, from Grupo Carolo restaurant group of Mexico City and Eureka Restaurant Group of California, opens its third U.S. location Monday, this time in the Palms. CDMX — Ciudad de México — is the abbreviation for Mexico City.

Executive chef Cesar de la Parra sends out a menu of modern Mexican dishes, including only-in-Las Vegas items such as scrambled egg and carnitas breakfast tacos, ribeye or adobo prawn fajitas, quesabirria tacos with braised brisket, and pastor enchiladas with chile de arbol salsa and pineapple.

Trevor Tyler, Eureka’s vice president of beverage operations, leads a cocktail program that includes an LP Margarita with Monte Alban Silver tequila, a Paloma with Monte Alban Reposado and house grapefruit soda, a Desert Rose with hibiscus lime-infused Monte Alban Silver, and the Oaxacan Jellyfish with Oaxacan rum, pineapple, lime, lemongrass and coconut cream.

The beverage offerings also run to rare Mexican spirits and to artisan products from small-batch distilleries in Oaxaca, Jalisco, and Guadalajara.

The design of La Popular brings together ambient lighting, brass details, wood flooring, greenery inspired by the Mexican tropics, a custom neon sign and the restaurant’s signature disco ball.

In the center of La Popular, a 10-seat station marks the spot where ribbons of ribeye and pastor meat are sliced from trompos (vertical spits) for tacos built with housemade corn tortillas. Hours and reservations: lapopularcdmx.com/locations/las-vegas.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on Twitter.

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