New Italian/Mexican restaurant coming to Lawrence; opening date set for Popeyes fried chicken

Think of the possibilities: tacos with breadsticks and marinara; chicken parmesan with chips and salsa. I know it sounds like an impossible dream, a world where you can have your cake and eat it too (maybe with queso dip,) but I assure you it is not. Instead, it is Lawrence’s newest restaurant concept.

The word is out that the old El Mezcal restaurant near 23rd and Iowa streets soon will be Vecinos Italian & Mexican Cuisine.

“You can get lasagna with a side of beans and rice, if you want,” said Kevin Jones, the chef and one of the owners of the new venture.

I had not thought of that one, and now I won’t be able to sleep. Understand, though, you don’t have to mix and match your Italian and Mexican cuisines. It is an option, but perhaps a more likely scenario is you want Mexican food, while someone else at your table wants Italian. Jones said the concept has been well-received with the people he’s shared it with.

“A lot of people tell me that those are their absolutely two favorite types of food,” Jones said. (They are certainly two of my top four. Free and plentiful also make the list.)

The concept isn’t unprecedented. Downtown Eudora long has been home to a unique Chinese/Mexican restaurant. And, of course, I can’t ever forget Furr’s Cafeteria, where you could spend hours at an all-you-can-eat buffet loading your plates full of spaghetti and mashed potatoes, fried chicken and enchiladas and other such combinations. You know, the El Mezcal site is just one lot east of where Furr’s used to stand. My heart gets a funny tingle every time I think about Furr’s. (My doctor’s given me pills for it.)

Remodeling work is well underway on the old El Mezcal location. Jones said he hopes to have the restaurant open sometime in June.

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Jones’ two partners in the restaurant are members of the family of that operated some of the El Mezcal restaurants. (There were lots of El Mezcals, operated by many different people.) But Jones said the Mexican food won’t be a copy of the El Mezcal dishes, although the salsa and queso dip may be similar recipes. The other dishes, though, will have more of an authentic Mexican flavor, Jones said.

What does that mean? Well, the food may be a bit spicier than you find at other Americanized Mexican restaurants, Jones said.

“Flavor-wise, it is bolder, I think,” said Jones, who has been working in the restaurant industry for more than 30 years. “In America, they tone the dishes down a bit. It won’t be so spicy that you can’t eat it, but we are going to use more spices.”

As for the Italian side of the menu, Jones said he grew up in New Jersey where there was seemingly an Italian restaurant on every corner. He said he has been surprised at how few Italian restaurants there are in Lawrence. He said the Italian menu will include traditional favorites, such as homemade meatballs, spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parmesan, multiple fettuccine dishes, an antipasto plate and tiramisu. (Tacos and tiramisu? You ought to try it for the alliteration alone.)

In other news and notes from around town:

• Call it a fried chicken false alarm. Perhaps you were like me and noticed a lot of activity at the new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen fried chicken restaurant near 26th and Iowa streets in recent days. Perhaps you bought a new pair of stretchy pants, and broke out your best Cajun accent for the occasion. If so, you were just a tad early. The restaurant was undergoing training, but wasn’t open to the public, an employee there told me. But an employee at the restaurant told me the restaurant does have an opening date: May 23, which is also known as a week from today. Whether that is an opening date for the entire public or a special sneak peek party, I’m not sure. But either way, an opening is imminent.

So, put the stretchy pants away for just a few days, although I think it is safe to keep the Cajun accent.

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