The new Chula’s Mexican-Latin Food & Spirits, which opens this April in Prior Lake, features a menu influenced by Mexico as well as Central and South America, including walleye tacos with pickled cabbage and lime crema. The restaurant will also serve a light lager with a hint of chili pepper brewed by Boathouse Brothers Brewing. Photos: Chris Emeott
A new Prior Lake restaurant seeks to be a community gathering space.
Longtime Prior Lake residents are bringing a new dining experience to downtown this spring with the grand opening of Chula’s Mexican-Latin Food & Spirits. Owner Manny Perez, along with partner Suzie Dahl and daughter Mercedes Dahl, have been in the food and beverage industry for years, and are working together to create a family and community gathering space, perfect for an intimate date night or a casual hang with friends or family.
The menu primarily features shareables, with appetizers, entrees, tacos and burritos inspired by traditional foods from Mexico as well as Central and South America, plus a brunch menu for the weekends.
Many dishes are similar to the ones Perez and Mercedes grew up eating at family gatherings. “I remember growing up in [a] Mexican family. Every time we went somewhere, ‘Are you hungry? Can I make you something?’” Mercedes says. “We want this to be a family establishment, make people feel almost like they’re walking into our family reunion.”
Chef consultant JD Fratzke helped create the menu with this inspiration in mind. “What do we want more than anything else, as a culture, as a country, as a community right now?,” Fratzke says. “And that’s to go back to nourishing one another … and one of the best ways to do that is around the dinner table. And so providing people with ingredients and flavors that resonate with them is going to allow that to happen that much easier.”
Fratzke also has a hand in the drink selection and is working with longtime wine buyer and seller Suzie to put together the best variety of cocktails, beers and wines, including a custom brew (a light lager with a hint of chili pepper) from Boathouse Brothers Brewing. Chula’s will also offer tequila and mezcal flights to enjoy, as well as nonalcoholic cocktail options. “Everything’s going to be handmade. Every drink is going to be handshaken, and you’re not just going to get Margarita mix poured out of a bottle and tequila,” Mercedes says.
The hearty Topopo Salad includes pulled chicken, refried beans, tortilla chips, guacamole, shredded lettuce, fried leeks and carrots, jicama, cucumber, scallion, Mexican oregano, oil and vinegar.
In an effort to bring something entirely new to downtown Prior Lake, Perez, along with Dan and Karen Stanley, came to the decision that their purchased space, the iconic T-Shirts & More building, was not conducive to the restaurant space that Perez imagined. The old building was torn down in May to begin construction the same month on the two-story gathering space, which includes a private event space on the upper level.
The family turned to Minneapolis’ Kari Campbell Interiors to create a welcoming, upscale space. Campbell’s team has a hand in every step of the design process, including selecting almost all of the furniture.
One element Campbell and the owners of Chula’s are particularly thrilled about is the inclusion of four large interior murals and one exterior mural, designed to capture the eye. Local artist Shawn McCann will paint two chulas, a term of endearment in Latin America for women.
“I know there’s a lot of hype around it, especially in the South Metro and in the Prior Lake area, but we’re trying to come up with as many memorable moments as we can throughout the design so that people are really wanting to take pictures of it and share it on social media to be able to share the space with people from all over,” Campbell says.
Though other family members have had the nickname chula, the current inspiration, Mercedes’ two daughters, Sawyer and Charlie, lie at the heart of the restaurant’s long-term goal. Mercedes and her sister, Lexi, grew up in the Subway sandwich shops their father owned, and now Mercedes’ children will have a similar experience.
“So now we’re at the next phase of life, and now my granddaughters are going to grow up in a restaurant, along with their mother there as well,” Perez says. “So it’s just the next part of life that’s going to be so special.”
Perez stresses that the community focus isn’t just a business model for Chula’s, it’s his family’s way of life. “You know, the financial side is what it is … I just want to make sure that we do the right thing within the community, and the community is happy,” Perez says.
Chula’s will open in April, and a grand opening party is planned for Cinco de Mayo.
Chula’s Mexican-Latin Food & Spirits
Facebook: ChulasPL
