East Austin Restaurant Takoba Turns Into a New Bar With Mexican Spirits and a Bar Cat

Still-closed East Austin Mexican restaurant Takoba has been turned into a new bar this summer. Seven Spirits is found at 1411 East Seventh Street as of July 26.

The counter-service bar focuses on the alcoholic spirits of Mexico. Along with the popular tequila, mezcal, and sotol, there are also a bunch of lesser-commercialized ones like raicilla (an agave spirit made in Jalisco), bacanora (another agave spirit made in Sonora), pox (pronounced “posh;” a whiskey-like spirit made of corn and wheat), and charanda (a rum-ish spirit made with sugar cane).

Seven Sprit’s menu includes cocktails and frozen drinks making use of said-spirits. These include the Marquesita, made with pox, strawberries, raspberries, and clarified Greek yogurt; the taramind Negroni with raicilla, a tamarind-Campari mixture, vermouth, and Chamoy; and the frozen Guava Lava with mezcal, orange liqueur, guava, lemon, and lime. There are also as well as straight-up flights with the various spirits.

Erin Holsonback

Seven Sprits’s food menu spans Mexican dishes, such as nopal fries, tuna tostada, a plethora of tacos (pork belly, carne asada, fish, etc.), and tortas (a Cuban with pork belly and ham; an eggplant).

Seven Spirits is run by Takoba owner Jose de Loera (who also owns taco drive-thru mini-chain El Tacorrido), along with operations manager Peter Ponce (who does the same role for both restaurants), and co-partner David Blauer. They wanted to open the bar as a way of honoring and showcasing these Mexican liquors.

The bar technically took over what had been Takoba’s back section. According to a rep, de Loera “was ready for something fresh and new after COVID;” hence, Seven Spirits. The front area isn’t in use at the moment, but he is open to turning it into something new in the near future.

Seven Spirits also includes bar cat Neffi, who was originally a stray kitten near De Loera’s ranch out in Dale, Texas.

The area where Seven Spirits currently operates had been a different bar in the past, Barzón, and before that, mezcal bar Cantina El Milamores. The Takoba space had also included a brief location of El Tacorrido. De Loera originally opened El Tacorrido in 2021, which grew to several locations throughout the city, and Takoba in 2010.

The bar is hosting a mezcal event on Saturday, September 30, where people can come by to sip various mezcal from 1 to 5 p.m.

Seven Spirits’s general hours are from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday.