[Photos] Escorpion Tequila Bar & Cantina opens

NOW OPEN: Riccardo Ullio’s fourth try for a Latino restaurant in Midtown

escorpion ~ what now, atlanta?
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Gmail
Scorpion sculpture takes over the restaurant’s exterior — Photo credit: Joseph Long

Sign up now to get our Daily Breaking News Alerts

Opt out at anytime
escorpion ~ what now, atlanta?
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Gmail
Scorpion sculpture takes over the restaurant’s exterior — Photo credit: Joseph Long

Escorpion, the brainchild of Riccardo Ullio — the restaurateur behind U Restaurants whose portfolio includes Inman Park’s Sotto Sotto and Fritti restaurants — has finally opened his fourth attempt at a Latino-style eatery in Midtown (story here).

Taylor Vaughn, an employee at the Midtown restaurant, told What Now Atlanta over the phone they have officially opened for service as of Monday at 4:00 p.m.

Plan on going? Drop us a line about your experience.

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

16 Responses

  1. I rushed to be first. Not your typical Mexican, obviously. Quality and care put into food just like it’s any other cuisine unlike other “fine Mexican” restaurants. Drinks are tops here! Chips taste a little stale…weired, it’s their first night. Highly recommend.

    Also, no more from Urbanist please

  2. We just got back and it was fantastic. Best opening night of a restaurant I’ve been to. Food was fantastic, especially a Tuna-Watermelon-Rock Salt Seviche with a fried jalapeno on top, and one of the better homemade smoky salsas I’ve had. Super-enthusiastic service team, and not at all snooty as we had feared it might be. I think Ullio’s got a winner if our neighbors will support it!

  3. Place looks amazing inside! They did a fantastic job of opening up the space. Service was excellent (especially for a first night). The salsa trio was worth the $4 price tag & the $16 chicken mole entree (with 2 sides) did not disappoint! The bartenders are very knowledgeable – a tequila lover’s paradise. Great ambiance that will entice the neighborhood crowd as well as the Fox Theatre crowd. This place is definitely going to be around awhile!

  4. Great spot…hopefully will stick around. The ceviche selection was impressive, the entrees great, tacos good as well (disclaimer: I did not eat one of everything on the menu…rather did a bit of sampling). The entire cocktail list was tequila based, which I found a little disappointing, as I’m not a big fan of tequila. However, the one I did try wasn’t bad. All in all, you couldn’t ask for more from a neighborhood joint. If Abrigo stays in business, and this place doesn’t, I’ll be amazed.

  5. @Urbanist – Actually, Abrigo closed more than a month ago… How does that old saying go? “If a tree nobody ever cared about falls in the woods & nobody is around, will news of it’s demise still end up on the blogs?”

  6. K-Dogg, you have to just ignore Urbanist. For the most part, he does not know what he is talking about.

  7. I went last night to try it out. Overall it was a good experience. Service was good. I thought the chips and salsa were flavorful. Although it was a bit different from the salsa I am used to. I also ordered the Cheese and Chorizo dip, I felt it was a little dry and was a bit harder to eat with its more solid consistency. The two tacos I had were delicious. The goat taco and the chicken taco were moist and flavorful. I hope this place sticks around I will definitely come back.

  8. Look at what now Atlanta trying to report openings and closings again, you’ve already ruined it, the next blog will come along shortly. You hitched your wagon to a hack who insulted your readers, cussed in the comments, and insulted thousands of metro Atlanta college students.

  9. The food was decent, but nothing to write home about. The drinks were fantastic. The service was terrible.

  10. I actually tried this place out last night with a friend and was pleasantly surprised. I really like the decor, and especially like the Ed Hardy-like decals on the ceiling. The drinks were small but potent and the food portions were perfect. The a la carte tacos were a nice substitution for a full-on entree. I also like the location and the wrap-around patio, something the other restaurants didn’t have. Overall I think it’s a great spot and hope it sticks around!

  11. Caleb – Your site is FAB!! Love it. I keep wondering where this restaurant is…despite knowing the area well. Suggest adding a google map to your posts about locations – might help with the ‘aha’ for me. 🙂 Again, kudos!

  12. After looking forward to this opening for a while, a group of us decided to all go last night for what was supposed to be their official “Grand Opening”. The space looked great and we were all psyched for a new fun restaurant in midtown. The wait staff was extremely nice but within 20 minutes of sitting at the table the dinner took a turn for the worst. After bringing out our starters of Guacamole and warm queso they informed us that they had run out of chips and were currently making more in the back. It took about 15 minutes before we received any chips to use for dipping which at this point meant our warm queso had now turned cold and hard. It was not until we asked to replace the queso that they came and brought us one new dip but did not replace the other 3 queso’s that we had ordered on the table. After getting our appetizer dips it took two hours for our entrees to come out which consisted of only taco’s and quesadillas. Then as the entrees were brought out we were informed that the kitchen had run out of chicken and we would only be getting half of the dinners for the table, which was 2 and a half hours after we had already sat down. The management apologized saying they did not anticipate it being a busy night (this is a new restaurant opening in the heart of midtown on a gorgeous friday night). At this point after having spent 3 hours at the restaurant we were just ready to leave. The manager did not comp anything on our bill except for taking off the food items that we never received. All I will say is that this looks like this will now be Ullio’s fourth failure in midtown. For better food, and drinks that are half the price you can walk 6 blocks and go to the reliable Tin Lizzy’s on Crescent.

  13. I went to the Grand opening of El Escorpion and though it had it’s rough point in all I enjoyed the food. In fact, I decided to give them another try this past week and could tell that made extreme improvements. The food was fantastic! The service was excellent. I have gone back almost everyday since then my most favorite meal combination so far is the fruity pacifico drink’ the chorizo dip, and the chicken Dorados. It is a must try meal something seriously addictive. The chorizo is creamy cheese melts like heaven in your mouth while mixing with the juicy tender meat. The combination of perfectly cooked chicken and all the toppingon the Dorados is an amazing experience in itself, plus the great prices. Wow look at me Escorpion has not only made me a regular, but a food critic as well. I am highly pleased.

Leave a Reply to RA Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Search