First Look: Amazonia, Opening Next Week in Lakewood

When guests start experiencing Amazonia next week, there will doubtless be numerous references to the term speakeasy. After all, to reach the new cocktail bar, guests must enter Hola Tacos on Madison Ave. in Lakewood, wind their way through the restaurant, traverse a small patio, and enter a separate building through a rear door. But “speakeasy” – at least those exuding an air of snooty sophistication – is definitely not the vibe owner Juan Vergara is going for.

“We’re not going to try and make it hard to get into, we’re not going to make it pretentious, we just want it to be a cocktail bar in the back of a taqueria,” he explains.

Vergara purchased the 100-year-old double on Hopkins Ave. in 2019, around the time he opened Hola Tacos. He always had plans to convert the structure from a residential property to a commercial one, but it was a long, slow process. With the help of Scalish Construction, the Vergaras eliminated the separation between the side-by-side units to make one cohesive space, complete with kitchen, bar and seating on two levels.

Now, as the alfresco activity on Hola’s charming patio winds down for the season, the staff is directing its attention to the cozy confines of Amazonia (1640 Hopkins Ave., 216-712-6745). As the name suggests, the bar takes some design, food and beverage cues from the Vergaras’ native South America. Like a miniature Explorers Club, the warmly lit space displays an assortment of objects that an adventurer might return home with following an expedition.

The main level features a 12-seat bar with an elegant sweep and some seating. The second level is split into two distinct spaces, the Sun Room and the Moon Room, one bright and cherry, the other dim and mysterious with comfortable soft seating nooks. All told, the property seats about 60.

Vergara says that the urge to enter the craft cocktail game came about not from a lifelong passion for spirits, but rather a desire to show off more of his country’s distinctive foodstuffs.

“We’re getting into this craft cocktail genre only because we have so many things in our culture that we can display,” Vergara says of his native Colombia. “There are so many ingredients from back home that we have always died to use at Barroco and it wouldn’t be the right fit. Here, I think we’re going to have a chance to get really creative.”

Running the bar program is Gabrielle Swafford, a longtime Barroco bartender. She has crafted a compelling cocktail list that features many atypical ingredients. The Jungle Cat, for example, blends rye with soursop, falernum and dehydrated orange. Coconut-washed bourbon joins scotch, Campari, Amaro Nonino and panela (cane sugar) in the Smoke Signals. Sure to elicit some gasps, the Heart of the Rainforest is a tequila-based cocktail garnished with a licorice stick covered in edible ants.

“People are going to be so freaking excited and pleasantly surprised by the cocktails that Gabby is going to put out, I can’t wait,” adds Vergara.

Just as he has done from the very start – Birdtown Barroco, 2011 – Juan is entrusting much of the menu to his father, Carlos. The roster is still a work in progress but guests can expect some unexpected flavors, textures and presentations. Vergara recently spent some time in Naples brushing up on his pizza-making skills and a shiny new Italian-made wood-fired pizza oven sits in the kitchen. While he’s not promising Neapolitan-style pies just yet, he does anticipate any number of savory items exiting that aromatic beast.

To start, there will be skewers of dulce de guava, cheese and peach palm drizzled in hot honey, shrimp ceviche, cream of wild mushroom soup, birria beef tacos, and pulled pork sliders with guava BBQ sauce.

Look for Amazonia to open the first week of October.


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