Mi Cocina in Highland Park Village has been closed since July 1, or about 50 days. That's 50 days too long for its regulars, whose spending money helped the 26-year-old Tex-Mex restaurant become Mi Cocina's highest-grossing restaurant in the 22-restaurant portfolio.
Mi Cocina officially reopens for lunch in Highland Park on Thursday, Aug. 22.
[Update at 1:45 p.m. Aug. 20: The opening date was pushed from Wednesday, Aug. 21 to Thursday, Aug. 22.]
But even while the interior of Mi Cocina underwent a renovation, the kitchen remained open for about 45 of those days. Passersby were still able to order food to-go, or grab lunch from the food truck parked in front of the construction zone in Highland Park Village, or even sip a mambo taxi on the patio. Despite the heat, patrons could be spotted on more than a few 100-degree days eating plates of Tex-Mex outside while the air-conditioned restaurant remained closed.
The restaurant has a new entrance, a redone first-floor bar, new banquettes, updated bathrooms, a fresh coat of whitewash paint on the interior bricks and handsome dark-wood slats on the ceiling.
The restaurant needed a facelift, says Heather Mashburn, director of marketing for the restaurant group that operates Mi Cocina. Founder Michael "Mico" Rodriguez opened it in 1993. The restaurant was spruced up in 2000 but remained mostly untouched since then.
Considering that this Mi Cocina is the most famous in the fleet, Mashburn says it was time to put some money back into a restaurant whose affluent customers come back so regularly. (And they do: The general manager says they have enough repeat customers that they try to call customers by name when tables become available during a busy Friday or Saturday night wait.)
Members of the Bush family and the Jones family have been spotted here.
Mi Cocina's third-story bar, known as the Monkey Bar, has been open since June 28. It, too, underwent a renovation a few months prior and boasts new tile floors and an expanded selection of mezcal and añejo tequilas. Those were chosen after the CEO and culinary director took a trip to Mexico City to taste tequila. Lucky.
The interior of the Monkey Bar is still a sliver of a place, where a dozen people can cram at the bar for drinks. The better spot is out on the patio, where a retractable roof will soon cover the entire outdoor area.
The Monkey Bar opened more than 20 years ago and gets its name from the feeling customers get perched up high, looking over Highland Park Village.
"It's like you're up in the trees," Mashburn says.
Mi Cocina in Highland Park is located at 77 Highland Park Village, Dallas. The Monkey Bar is above it, accessible either from the Mi Cocina dining room or from a staircase near Bistro 31.
For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.
