The newest additions to the downtown Chandler dining scene – Modern Margarita and La Bocca Urban Pizzeria + Wine Bar – will open at 6 p.m. Friday on the southeast corner of Arizona Avenue and Boston Street.
The two restaurants take over the former Coach & Willie’s sports bar space, dividing the 6,000 square feet into more or less equal parts.
Behind the scenes, the two will share a kitchen, a chef, a general manager, and an ownership group. From the public’s perspective, though, they will be two totally separate restaurants.
La Bocca offers a polished menu of bruschetta, gourmet pizzas, wines, and premium whiskies and whiskeys. (As liquor experts will point out, the Scots make whisky, while the Irish and Americans make whiskey).
Modern Margarita focuses on Mexican small plates and tacos, premium tequilas, and a dozen specialty margaritas.
(Pictured above: Modern Margarita, in the final stages of cleanup. Pardon the mess. Below: The staff gets a lesson in whiskies and whiskeys at La Bocca.)
The backstory
Both concepts were created by Mill Avenue nightlife entrepreneur Julian Wright, who opened La Bocca in 2008 and Canteen Modern Tequila Bar (a concept similar to Modern Margarita) in 2010 in downtown Tempe.
Canteen closed in 2013 (it was sold to El Hefe Super Macho Taqueria) and Modern Margarita debuted at CityNorth in northeast Phoenix. In 2014, it was joined by a second La Bocca.
In late 2014, Wright tentatively agreed to open additional Modern Margarita and La Bocca locations at a since-delayed downtown Chandler development called The Row, which was to be anchored by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (now being built in south Chandler).
In the meantime, Wright launched his biggest project to date – Pedal Haus Brewery – in downtown Tempe last year and sold La Bocca and Modern Margarita to the Mill Avenue Management Group.
Hello, Chandler
When Coach & Willie’s unexpectedly closed last September, the new ownership group pounced the high-profile space, dividing it into Modern Margarita (fronting Arizona) and La Bocca (fronting Boston).
Each restaurant will seat nearly 100 people inside, plus each will have a small patio. Modern Margarita will attempt to draw a sport-watching crowd with 10 TVs above the bar and a big screen on the wall.
Bernard Hilton will oversee the kitchen for both restaurants under the direction of Mill Avenue Group corporate chef Judd Cummings. The food menus for each will be the same as the other locations.
Those familiar with Modern Margarita in Phoenix will find a couple of differences in Chandler: a larger bar – including a long side with garage-style roll-up windows to serve the patio – and a DJ booth.
Instead of roll-up doors, La Bocca has sliding floor-to-ceiling glass panels to open the space.
Hours TBD
Both restaurants will open at 11 a.m. daily, and closing times eventually will be determined by customers.
General manager Tony Pethers, who will run both restaurants, says he plans to offer food until midnight at Modern Margarita and a bit earlier at La Bocca.
‘‘We’re kinda gonna roll with it,’’ he says. ‘‘We have room to make adjustments. I’m gonna keep the kitchen open as late as people want it.”
Modern Margarita, Pethers says, will be open until 2 a.m. on weekends.
‘‘We’re definitely gonna be open until 2 on weekends because we want to bring nightlife to downtown Chandler,” he says.
