Ford Fry’s Superica opens today, check out the menu

He explains how his Krog Street Market spot differs from The El Felix in Avalon
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elfelix_food&drink_0014On the heels of The El Felix, Ford Fry’s first Mexican restaurant in Alpharetta, Superica opens today for lunch and dinner at Krog Street Market. Here’s a first look at the menu, which chef Sheldon Wolfe (current sous chef at The El Felix) will helm after the opening. Live music and breakfast service are coming soon.

What made you want to put this concept in Krog Street?

I always noticed that Inman Park/Old Fourth Ward was an in-town neighborhood where high-end, more-expensive restaurants struggled. This is our first Mexican restaurant and I’ve been wanting to do one forever, and this is the first place where I felt this was the right fit and what the neighborhood needed. There’s not much Mexican food around there, other than in the Highlands.

How is Superica different from The El Felix?

The whole idea behind Superica was to recreate the restaurant experience in Austin, Texas and even Nashville, where you can go into this casual place with a stage where, at a certain time of the night, there’s a band or local singer/songwriter that goes on stage. It converts from a dining experience to more of a late night experience. The other thing is the breakfast/brunch experience on Saturday and Sunday.

How often will there be live music?

We are shooting for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Why brunch?

When I go home to Houston, I go to this breakfast place near my house that is always packed. I wanted a spot in Atlanta for people to go and have Mexican breakfast because I want to go eat there, but I thought being by the BeltLine was perfect. The Old Fourth Ward is such a residential area and near the BeltLine that I think they needed something like this. On the weekends, people can be out on their bikes and come have brunch and margaritas.

When will brunch service start?

Two to three weeks in. We’re going to get our system down for a couple weeks and then at the latest, three weeks in, early March.

Is it true that the menu items for both The El Felix and Superica were developed at the same time and the same place?

Yeah. We’ve added some stuff to the cocktail menus, slightly, to be more adventurous. The menu will slowly evolve a little bit more, but the food items will be slightly more adventurous, maybe with some goat popping up and different things that we feel would go over better in this neighborhood than it would in Alpharetta. I don’t want to downplay Alpharetta but that was the goal, to push it a little bit.

How would you describe the interior design of Superica?

When I go to these places in Austin, I guarantee they don’t hire any designers. They just do it, they find stuff that’s silly and put it up because they don’t want to be taken too seriously. There’s a little humor in there, there’s a little funkiness. There’s also some refinement, too. We definitely spent way too much money on it, for sure, but hopefully it’ll all work out in the end. At night time it gives off a feel of Austin especially with the stage and the lights.

Are there any menu items that stand out to you at Superica?

The breakfast is really going to stand out. Anything from the huevos rancheros to migas to grilled quail and tamales with a fried egg. There is a taco we’ve been playing with that’s a beef cheek taco, and it’s pretty spicy, and I really like that it’s really pushing the heat level. We’ll probably have to label the heat on the menu.

Are there any house salsas?

On the table, we have a spicy hot sauce, our own housemade Tapatio, typically used for ceviche and things like that. When guests come in we give free chips and two different types of salsa. There’s one that’s an avocado tomatillo salsa and then there’s a wood-roasted tomato salsa.

What was your approach to the beverage menu?

It was mainly Lara Creasy. I explained that I wanted the traditional Austin, Texas high-quality house margaritas as opposed to a really racket margarita. She’s always made great tequila drinks for me, so I wanted her to run with it and play a little more and let her creativity run under the parameters.

Why Sheldon Wolfe to run the kitchen?

Sheldon, like me, loves food and loves music. I told him about this idea a couple years ago when we were in this chef band together. I told him about Krog Street and how we wanted to have a stage in there, and he pulled me to the side and said I’d love to throw my name in the hat for that because I could really have fun with that. Sheldon is one of these guys that I’ll make a salsa or sauce of some sort and have this recipe somewhat written down, and then Sheldon will get a hold of it and just do what he does with it and makes it better. There’s something about him that just has it.

What can diners expect from him as a chef? How would you describe as his style?

He’s committed to not ever cut any corners. That’s one of his biggest strengths. Our prices are probably a little bit higher than your typical strip mall Mexican restaurant, but it’s that way because we don’t want to cut any corners and we want to have high quality stuff. He understands that.

Click the thumbnails below to see the food and drink menus

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