Caliente Caterers, the brainchild of business partners Raul Garcia-Antolin and Rogelio Lopez-Esquival, held a soft opening on May 1st at 4828 Geary Boulevard, where it debuted its authentic Mexican catering and take-out menus, but the restauranteurs have bigger plans for the space.
Lopez-Esquival and Garcia-Antolin recently took over the Inner Richmond space that was briefly El Frijolito, and before that, Great Mongolia Nomads, and while they’re currently using it for takeout and catering services, the location will soon be the home of their full service restaurant, Caliente Kitchen.
“We’ve got so many different menus in the works,” says Garcia-Antolin, who was born and raised in a small community in Jalisco, Mexico, before moving to San Francisco. “We had to take ourselves off of GrubHub and DoorDash because they couldn’t keep up.”
Similar to the takeout options they offer now, Caliente Kitchen will serve authentic Mexican food in an upscale, bistro-like setting, and Garcia-Antolin, who has worked with a number of distinguished chefs, including Wolfgang Puck and James Beard Award winner Luciano Pellegrini, plans to change the menu on nearly a daily basis.
As for the space, Garcia-Antolin says it’s already got that amber, old school taqueria feel to it, complete with a recently refurbished bar. He plans to class it up a bit to match the quality level of the food he’ll be serving.
No opening date for Caliente Kitchen has been announced yet, but the restauranteurs hope to finalize plans within the next few months. If you want a sneak peak at what they’re up to, head down to Geary Boulevard and take a look at their takeout and catering menus (they’re open daily from 2-8pm). But try not to get too attached — when the restaurant opens, it’s guaranteed to mix it up a bit.
