Four years ago Dave Taylor, Kelly Lough and her husband Bryant Phillips were sitting on a patio having drinks when they came up with an idea for a late night restaurant in Cincinnati that served tacos and western food.
But when they found the perfect space for their first restaurant it had elegant paned windows and an airy dining room and was located in the Gaslight District of Clifton; it just wasn’t right for hot cast iron and western spice. So they opened
La Poste instead, a casual fine dining restaurant with an extensive wine program, and along with fourth partner Jens G. Rosenkrantz Jr. they put their Western aspirations on hold.
When a quirky space with a prime location came available Northside this year, they decided to move ahead with the idea that jump-started their partnership and open Django Western Taco there this coming spring.
Chef Dave Taylor said the space has eclectic design features, including cast iron railing and a milled timber support, that are well suited for a restaurant named after a movie cowboy who dragged a Gatling Gun around the muddy west in a coffin. It has an open kitchen and large windows that face a busy street corner. Like the space where they opened La Poste after the restaurant Tink’s closed, it provides them the opportunity to fill a void for a community.
“When Tink’s closed, the neighborhood missed having their restaurant,” Lough says. “We took that and built La Poste based on being a neighborhood restaurant, and being a part of the community. We are doing the same thing in Northside right now.”
Taylor and Lough said Django Western Taco will not be a taqueria, but a place that serves “food from the American west.” The menu will include traditional Mexican specialties as well as western staples like cast-iron cornbread, spicy beef chili and a cowboy steak. The full bar will focus more on traditional whiskey and tequila than fancy mixed drinks, Phillips said.
“We want kind of like a raw mud-on-your boots atmosphere,” Taylor says. “We'll play rock n roll music and hopefully be a fixture for the neighborhood and a destination for late night dining.”
Hours will be noon to midnight during the week, and the owners said they hope to stay open until 3 a.m. on the weekends. Phillips said all menu items will be priced under $20.
Taylor said he and his partners hope to “grow their brand” with their second restaurant, but so far they don’t have a name for their business partnership. Opportunities are opening up for them, and they seem to be too busy doing their thing to have the time to give it a name.
By Henry Sweets
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