Raíces, now open at South End’s RailYard, brings Jalisco and Oaxaca cooking from a South Carolina restaurant family

Raíces, a Mexican restaurant built around the cooking of Jalisco and Oaxaca, opened September 12 at the RailYard in South End, Unpretentious Palate reported. The restaurant is at 1422 S. Tryon St., Suite 140, and serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., according to the restaurant’s website.

The owners of Raíces are husband and wife Alfonso Bravo and Amalia Macias, who run five restaurants in South Carolina and opened this one as their first in North Carolina, Axios Charlotte reported. The RailYard space previously held Summerbird, a chicken sandwich and salad restaurant, according to Axios.

Raíces at a glance

The basics for a first visit, from the restaurant’s website and September menus:

• The address is 1422 S. Tryon St., Suite 140, Charlotte, NC 28203, in the RailYard.
• Dinner runs Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., and the restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday.
• Reservations are taken on OpenTable, the phone number is 980-217-6400, and the email address on the website is hello@raicesclt.com.
• Mains on the September dinner menu cost $37 to $60, and tacos cost $18 to $24 for an order of two.
• Cocktails run $19 to $21, and the two spirit-free drinks cost $12 and $13.

Who is behind it

Bravo and Macias grew up working in Mexican restaurants, according to the restaurant’s website. Their fathers cooked in restaurant kitchens in Mexico and their mothers cooked at home, Unpretentious Palate reported, and the couple started in Camden, South Carolina, before expanding to Columbia. Axios Charlotte counts two of their South Carolina restaurants in Columbia, two in Camden and one in Elgin, and Unpretentious Palate named Salud Mexican Kitchen, Coa Agaveria y Cocina and Masa Mexican Street Food among them. Salud is an upscale Mexican kitchen and tequila bar on Broad Street in downtown Camden, and Coa is on Lady Street in Columbia, according to those restaurants’ websites.

The name means roots. The couple traveled to Oaxaca in 2013 and fell for the region, and the name honors their parents and their Mexican heritage, Unpretentious Palate reported. Charlotte came next. “We just fell in love with Charlotte,” she said. Macias also described the city’s food scene as diverse and said opening Raíces was emotional because of how much work it took.

Chef T.J. Steele runs the kitchen. He spent 20 years living in Oaxaca, according to Unpretentious Palate. Axios Charlotte identified him as the chef behind the restaurant Claro and reported that he still lives in Oaxaca part of the year. For the drinks, the owners sought the help of Edson Sanchez, a mixologist who works in Tulum and whom they met there, Unpretentious Palate reported.

What is on the menu

The website describes the cooking as heirloom corn, open-flame cooking, seafood bought daily and small plates, with dishes changing based on what comes in. Earlier coverage from K104.7 and Axios mentioned handmade tortillas, moles, pozole and produce and meat from nearby family farms. The September dinner menu is split into starters, raw dishes, tacos, mains and sides. Some of what is on it:

• Starters include a charred-avocado guacamole tatemado with salsa macha for $15 and queso fundido with roasted poblano and wild mushrooms for $16.
• The raw dishes are a shrimp and melon aguachile for $23 and a hamachi ceviche with blackberry and black chile oil for $26.
• Tacos range from setas, a wild mushroom mix with epazote, for $18 to carne en su jugo with ribeye, heirloom beans and bacon for $24.
• Mains are barbacoa de borrego, a braised lamb shank in chile broth, for $40; scallops in mole verde for $37; and ribeye with mole negro for $60.
• Sides include braised collards with chorizo and chile vinegar, grilled corn with chile morita butter and queso fresco, and roasted sweet potatoes with crema and chile crunch, all $12, plus four handmade tortillas for $8.

The bar is built on agave spirits and regional expressions, according to the website. Eight cocktails are on the September list, and a few of them show the range:

• The Paloma Verde mixes mezcal, Ancho Reyes Verde, mint and a cucumber and lime soda for $20.
• The Agave de Seda pairs tequila blanco with elderflower cordial, coconut, lemongrass and lemon for $19.
• The Ocaso combines mezcal, tawny port, piloncillo, chipotle and a hibiscus reduction for $20.
• The Jardín Amargo is mezcal with basil-infused Cynar, Campari and dry vermouth for $21.
• The Lima Spritz tops Mexican gin, Italicus and lemon oleo saccharum with sparkling white wine for $19.

The two drinks without alcohol are the Pistacoco, made with coconut and pistachio, for $12, and the Carajo, made with coffee, cocoa, piloncillo and cinnamon, for $13.

The room and what comes next

The dining room is dark and moody, drawing on Guadalajara, Mexico City and Jalisco, with Mexican pottery and art that includes barro negro, the black clay pottery of Oaxaca, Unpretentious Palate reported. The restaurant says agave tastings, chef’s table dinners and seasonal menu releases are planned, with announcements going to the restaurant’s newsletter first.

The opening date shifted once. K104.7 reported a summer opening plan in June, Axios Charlotte later reported early September, and the doors opened on Saturday, September 12. The restaurant’s press page links to the earlier announcements of the plans from Axios Charlotte, the Charlotte Business Journal, CharlotteFive, K104.7 and SouthPark Magazine.

The menu changes with the market, particularly the fish and seafood, according to the website, so the dishes and prices above come from the September dinner and cocktail menus posted there.

Have a tip about this story? Send it to us through our contact form.