Jason Simon's Bar Nico with modern Mexican vibes opens in the East Village soon

Jason Simon always has another idea for a restaurant percolating in his head. The restaurateur behind stalwarts such as the modern American Alba in the East Village and Mediterranean-inspired Eatery A on Ingersoll Avenue is ready to unveil his latest, this time taking over the former Continental space in the East Village.

Bar Nico slides into the narrow space at 428 E. Locust St., potentially opening as soon as Oct. 11. Simon, who debuted his pizzeria Parlor in Beaverdale during the pandemic last November, always wanted to have a Mexican restaurant and thought it would do well in Des Moines.

Consider this a more modern take on Mexican fare, elevated with corn ground in house for tortillas, bar snacks meant to pair with the lineup of mezcal and tequila behind the bar and main plates with half a chicken, lamb, short ribs or red snapper meant for sharing.

Walk into the restaurant with a narrow illuminated sign softly humming the words Bar Nico in white on a blue background in the window to find a narrow space highlighted by exposed brick walls and lime green booths lining the eastern side and hexagonal tiles lining the floor. At the entrance sits a small lounge with a wall that covers access to the dining room and long windows looking out on Locust Street. Simon hopes this becomes a space for takeout so the restaurant can stay open longer hours for those who want their food to go.

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“So what we envision is to do almost a takeout taco bar when the restaurant isn’t open so people can come in this lobby when it’s closed,” Simon said. A folding door separates the bar from the lobby lounge, almost providing a buffer between the buzzy dining room and the entrance.

Once customers walk through the door to get through the lounge, they find a bar with backlighting to showcase the liquors on the shelves, dotted with an aloe vera plant here and a book on Mexico there. Simon says he’s focusing on bourbon, mezcal and tequila behind the bar.

An early preview of the cocktails includes an Oaxacan Old Fashioned that uses Del Maguey Vida mezcal and Exotico reposado tequila for a South of the Border riff on the drink, and El Pajaro (think of a shady character as the best way to describe this drink) with Sombra mezcal mixed with a sweet and spicy combination of cream of coconut and jalapeno.

Over the bar, an Alaskan wolf, a taxidermied relic from a hunting trip Simon's grandfather went on in the 1960s, looks down on the scene from an enclosure. “This thing has been in my mom’s house all these years and she didn’t really have a need for it,” Simon said. Think of this as the watchful lobo of the restaurant, representing Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war and the sun.

Aside from the exposed brick, Simon stuck to a desert vibe for the color scheme ― simple stripes in greens, grays, limes, oranges and black on the ceiling, light woods on the western dining room wall, and sparse decor. At the rear of the space, just past the tiny kitchen, a mural with giant leaves giving the restaurant a jungle feel found in the southern states in Mexico takes over the back wall. The pattern is mimicked on speaker boxes built into the walls. Lighting comes from globe string lights neatly climbing the walls and overhead.

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Out a back door sits a small patio that features oak tables from trees Simon downed in his own yard.

As for the menu, Simon tapped Matt Small from Alba to run the Bar Nico kitchen.

"We have a lot of good people who work for us,” Simon said. “I’ve got to keep it interesting for them as well.”

Much like Simon opened Harbinger with chef Joe Tripp in 2017 and Motley School Tavern with chef Nic Gonwa, all three James Beard Foundation semifinalists, he is working with Small to develop this restaurant. Tripp now owns Harbinger outright and just opened Little Brother in Windsor Heights this year, while long-time Eatery A chef Gonwa opened Motley School Tavern in Beaverdale with Simon in 2019 and will soon own it outright.

"They've really developed into their own person, which is great. It's good for the city. It makes people want to come work for you."

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Simon hopes to see the same blossoming from Small. “He’s been super excited about doing this,” he said of Small, who was still developing the menu ahead of the opening. "We've had this concept in the works for the last couple of years."

The rough draft menu contains five different renditions of tacos in their own section. Early options include a pork version, mushrooms, cauliflower or duck carnitas, but expect a rotation or at least a special added to the menu as the restaurant gets its legs under it.

Seafood has a prominent space on the menu as well, but Simon and Small are waiting to reveal more of those dishes. Simon said the team is even working on a dessert that could rival the must-order caramel budino at Eatery A and lava cake at Alba.

Soon diners will be able to start trying the dishes for themselves in mid-October. Once open. Simon said the restaurant hopes to serve from 3 to 10 p.m.

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Bar Nico opens soon in the East Village with modern Mexican food