By Barbara Pinckney
The Superior Cantina, a Tex-Mex restaurant and margarita bar, will open on Bay Street in Glens Falls by early September.
The 85-to-90 seat restaurant will occupy 2,500 square feet on the ground floor of the Rogers Building. It will offer a traditional Tex-Mex menu that includes fajitas, tacos, enchiladas and chimichangas, as well as grilled fare such as steaks, burgers, fish and chicken. The bar will feature traditional frozen and “on the rocks” margaritas as well as some unique recipes.
“We are focused on atmosphere, and excellent food, and excellent
service, at a reasonable price,” said Gary Patton, owner of the Superior
Cantina. “That is our recipe for success and I think the local
residents will really enjoy it.”
Patton, who was born and raised in Louisiana, formerly owned and
operated a bar and grill in Shreveport. It was failing when he and his
partners purchased it, and thriving when they sold it about 10 years
later.
He and his wife Lisa, and their two young children, moved from Shreveport to Glens Falls in November 2012. Lisa, a grade school teacher in Queensbury, was born in Glens Falls and still had relatives in the area. After years of visits, they decided Glens Falls was the place they wanted to raise their family.
Patton said he chose a Tex-Mex theme for the new restaurant because he wanted to share the tastes of his childhood with his new community.
“Where I grew up, near the Louisiana-Texas border, there was Tex-Mex on every corner, just like here, there is a pizza place on every corner,” he said.
His cousin, a career chef named Brandon Hanisee, will be moving from South Carolina this summer to run the kitchen of the Superior Cantina. Hanisee received his culinary arts degree from Johnson and Wales in Charleston.
Patton expects to start out with about 20 employees, but hopes to grow from there.
He has not set an exact date for the opening, but given the 60 to 90 days it will take to build and equip the restaurant, along with the time required to hire and train workers, he is aiming for late August or early September.
The opening of the Superior Cantina will leave just one available space in the Rogers Building, which local developer Peter Hoffman renovated at a reported cost of about $3.5 million.
All 37 apartments on the upper floors of the building at the corner of Maple and Bay streets are rented, and the ground floor is home to three other businesses. They are Sip & Canvas, a paint and sip studio; Sketch Design Studio, which offers fashion design and art classes; and the Siam Thai Sushi restaurant.