The Commons Food Hall and Bar will expand its offerings this Sunday as Ivan and Omar, owners of La Cocina Mexican Delights, bring their brand of Mexican street food to downtown.
“We met with Errik Hill (manager of The Commons Food Hall and Bar) over breakfast,” said Omar Bautista, who also runs Desayuno by Omar at La Fiesta Grill and Cantina.“We met a few times and developed this menu where everything is fresh, homemade and street style.”
Bautista is an experienced chef who has worked in Steamboat Springs kitchens including the Cantina, E3 Chophouse and La Fiesta Grill and Cantina, where he has been for more than nine years. He added that La Cocina is a partnership with his nephew Ivan Jaimes and the Commons Food Hall and Bar offers both men the opportunity to branch out on their own.
“It was very hard for us to find a place because this is an expensive city,” Bautista said. “We’ve been looking for a place for years and I’m grateful that Errik came by and tried our breakfast.”
Specialties at Ivan and Omar’s La Cocina Mexican Delights range in price from $11 for the Mexican salad to $16 for the fajitas. Customers can also choose from three street tacos for $15, burritos for $12, tortas for $13 or gringas for $14.
“We want this to be a meeting place for locals,” Bautista said. “We want to offer locals good prices. … We offer tacos dorados, quesabiriña, enchiladas, las fajitas and right now we also have a salad.”
There is also a kids’ menu for children under 12, which offers smaller portions and desserts like flan and Mexican gelatin. The menu also includes Mexican drinks like horchatas, soft drinks and aguas frescas. The owners also hope to add licuados, a type of Mexican milkshake, to the menu.
Bautista said his partner, La Fiesta Grill and Cantina at 1755 Central Park Drive, will continue to offer a traditional Mexican breakfast through Desayuno by Omar.
Downtown, meanwhile, he will share duties with his nephew at his newest venture, Ivan and Omar’s La Cocina Mexican Delights. The restaurant will be open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Commons Food Hall and Bar at 56 Seventh St.
He’ll continue to offer breakfast at La Fiesta Grill, but the new location in the Commons will offer both lunch and dinner. He hopes to open Ivan and Omar’s La Cocina Mexican Delights in the Commons Food Hall for breakfast as early as 8 a.m. when business picks up in December.
“We want to try to open earlier and the owners will be OK with that,” Bautista said. “La Cocina will open earlier and offer some healthy Mexican drinks and maybe some breakfast items.”
Ivan and Omar’s La Cocina Mexican Delights is the sixth restaurant in the Commons Food Hall and Bar, joining Clyde’s Pies Wood-fired Pizza, Poke The Bear, Sizzlin Jamaican Cuisine, Yield and Lasa Filipino Kitchen. The Commons also features the Common Bar, which offers a diverse selection of cocktails, beer, wine and spirits to complement the meals offered by the various vendors.
“The Commons is like an incubator for small businesses,” Hill said. “We do the marketing, we have a building and a beautiful space downtown where anyone can come and try something. Each of these guys is a small, locally owned business and a great place to enjoy really good food.”
John F. Russell is a business reporter for Steamboat Pilot & Today. Reach him by phone at 970-871-4209, by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @Framp1966.
