Courtesy of Botanico Cocina
Shortly after shuttering Palo Santo in West Midtown due to failed lease negotiations, brothers Felipe Rivera and Eduardo Rivera are opening a new high-energy restaurant, one with a familiar-sounding name. Botánico Cocina & Social Club is slated to launch in August in the former Lure space on Crescent Avenue, trading Palo Santo’s modern Mexican focus for a broader look at Latin American food and cocktails.
For the Riveras, the name Botanico has history. It was the first concept they ever created, serving Buckhead from 2017 to 2021. Bringing it back in Midtown, Rivera says, “feels like a full-circle moment.”
“Palo Santo taught us that people are looking for experiences, not just restaurants,” Felipe Rivera says. “We learned how important it is for every detail—from the music and lighting to the service and pacing of dinner—to work together to create an atmosphere.” The Riveras used those learnings to bring back Botanico, which is designed less as a dinner-only destination than a place where the night can stretch from shared plates to cocktails and music on the patio.
Courtesy of Botanico Cocina
The restaurant takes its cues from travels through Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, and Cuba, Rivera says, but it is not meant to read as a tour of individual countries. “Our approach isn’t to create a ‘greatest hits’ menu,” Rivera says. “Instead, we focus on ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavors that naturally connect many cultures throughout Latin America.”
Executive chef Juan Guillermo Hormiga, who hails from Colombia, will lead the kitchen. “He shares our philosophy that honoring tradition doesn’t mean copying it, it means respecting its roots while presenting it in a contemporary way,” Rivera explains. “Every dish has been developed with the goal of being both visually beautiful and genuinely craveable.”
The menu will lean toward shareable plates, with seafood, tropical fruit, chiles, herbs, and bold sauces. Offerings may include sea bass ceviche with mango leche de tigre and a tapioca cracker; shrimp cocktail with guajillo leche de tigre, avocado, sriracha caviar, cilantro oil, and burnt banana powder; and chicken tamales with chupe sauce, cheese sauce, and a citrus herb salad.
Courtesy of Botanico Cocina
The beverage program, too, is rooted in Latin American and Caribbean flavors. Expect tequila and mezcal to lead the spirits list, joined by pisco, Caribbean and South American rums, and wines from hispanic producers in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Spain. Mexican beers will sit alongside American options. “Creative zero-proof cocktails will receive the same attention as the alcohol menu,” Rivera promises, noting the use of fresh fruit and herbs.
That same layered approach will extend beyond the glass. Botánico will lean into a large outdoor area, greenery, natural materials, and warm lighting to create a lush indoor-outdoor feel, with patio parties and a lounge space with bottle service adding to its clubby side. Music will help shape the night’s momentum: Dinner will begin with lounge music, Latin jazz, Afro-house, organic house, deep house, and downtempo rhythms, then build later as DJs bring in Latin electronic sounds, disco, and globally inspired dance music.
