El Jefe Texican Cantina threw open the doors this past weekend to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The new restaurant takes the place of the former Kingdom Bar & Grill at 468 King St. The interiors are less clubby now with blue walls and baskets of produce as decoration. The hostess stand is full of pineapples and husks of corn.
Owner Jay Witkowski told Charleston City Paper that “Texican” is his version of Tex-Mex. The opening menu features tableside guacamole, tortilla soup, $9 chicharrones, tacos, chicken tortilla soup, “Texican pho,” and “sizzlers.” There’s also a “gringo” section with burgers, quesadillas, and a ribeye with fries. Below is the entire menu posted on the window of the restaurant.
El Jefe is open daily at 4 p.m. Seating is first come, first serve, but there is a bar for waiting or drinking. According to the El Jefe website, there are DJs spinning on the weekends until 2 a.m.
• El Jefe Texican Cantina Taking Over Kingdom Bar and Grill [CP]
• El Jefe [Official]