Tekila Modern Mexican, a high-end Mexican restaurant, is opening its second location on Union Avenue late this year or early next. 

The 1,600-square-foot restaurant will take over the former Nineteenth Century Club building at 1433 Union Ave. The building’s former restaurant tenant, Red Hook, closed Sunday, Oct. 8. 

Tekila Modern Mexican is one of two concepts owned and operated by the Gomez family: Brothers Jose and Alex Gomez and sister Maria Gama. Their other concept is called Tekila Mexican Bar & Grill. 

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The Union Avenue location will be Tekila Modern Mexican’s second location. The first is in the Silo Square development in Southaven.

Jose Gomez said the Modern Mexican brand is more of a high-end restaurant than the family’s Mexican Bar & Grill concept. 

“(At Tekila Modern Mexican), you have the intensity of the Mexican-style food but with higher expectations of quality, presentation and service,” Jose Gomez said. “We’re excited, and I think (Modern Mexican) would be really great for Memphis.”

He said many of the Southaven location’s customers are from Memphis, and he and his family also live in the Bluff City. So, the new Union Avenue location made sense. 

They were also attracted to the location due to the history and architecture of the “house,” also known as the Rowland J. Darnell House. For roughly 80 years, it was also home to the philanthropic Nineteenth Century Club. 

“It looks like a mansion from the outside, and it’s really beautiful,” Jose Gomez said. “(The house) has the theme of Modern Mexican, which will do really well overall. It’s close to Midtown and Downtown, so it has the potential to bring other people to our location, as well.” 

The family’s Tekila Mexican Bar & Grill locations are in Cordova, at 1335 N. Germantown Parkway, and in Jackson, Tennessee, at 155 Stonebrook Place.