Pull up a stool. We just mixed up margaritas with good tequila and fresh-squeezed lime juice. Steaks and chicken are on the grill–big salads and lots of veggies are standing by! We’re smashing avocados with chiles, lime and cilantro for great guacamole. The tortillas are warm, and the beer is cold. Get a big plate of everything and chill out–the food’s delicious! It’s a summertime, wear your shorts, drink a beer, sweat a little, relax with friends, have a margarita, listen to the music, forget the clock, eat a burrito party. Just a good time.
We spin an American food mashup of Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Spanish. We aren’t scared to put fun things together if they taste good.
Sure, there are easier ways to do it. But why would we put frozen food out for our favorite friends? We make just about everything from scratch daily. We believe that the closer we are to the Earth, to picking the vegetables from the field, the better the food. We spin an American food mashup of Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Spanish. We aren’t scared to put fun things together if they taste good.
Drawing on West Coast food: healthy, fun , local, experimental. No lard, simple marinades of citrus and spices. And microbrews. The trend that awakened on the West Coast and ignited our passions for good beer made here.
Because we love Mexican food. Big flavors, big plates, fire and sunshine, beer and tequila to wash it down. Great flavors. Warm tortillas and big piles of rice and beans. Guacamole!!!!!! Avocados rule Mexico and they rule us. And Mexico is home to tequila, our favorite hooch. Viva la Margarita!
In the early 90s, Tom Baron had a good view of the Pittsburgh dining scene as co-owner of a local restaurant delivery company. Having moved from NYC five years earlier, he saw an opportunity to bring innovative and cool dining spaces to Pittsburgh. Tom invited Juno Yoon to town, a long-time friend who joined the venture as cofounder. The two borrowed start up money, enlisted their talented architect friend, Riva Sloan from New York, and transformed a small, nondescript storefront into a local landmark.
From the opening night in late October, 1993, the restaurant established a moodily lit, decidedly loud and visually striking place for good beer, big margaritas and hand crafted Cal-Mex cuisine. As founder Tom Baron reflected, “Mad Mex was meant to be a party, a fun atmosphere where you could have dinner and a bar scene at the same time.”
Over the next three decades, Mad Mex has scaled up that original concept to a variety of larger spaces in western Pennsylvania. While the roughest edges were smoothed out over the years, the original ideas remain the same. Huge, flavorful dishes made with an emphasis on simple, healthy ingredients; a passion for great craft beer and margaritas made with real fruit juices and better tequila; and a funky room filled with colorful folk art and a rocking soundtrack.
