'Taco, tequila, and whiskey' concept planned for Brush Park

The Cincinnati-based Thunderdome Restaurant Group is planning a new taco, tequila, and whiskey concept called Bakersfield for Woodward Avenue in Brush Park.

When it opens in mid-December, the restaurant, at 3100 Woodward, will feature what the group bills as "authentic, Mexican street fare." Matthew Schmidt, a regional managing partner with the group, tells MT that Bakersfield's other locations run a scratch kitchen, so it will braise meats in house, make its own tortillas everyday, squeeze the fruit for its mixers, and make fresh guacamole every two hours.

"We really try to follow traditional methods for producing these foods," Schmidt says. "It's really quality ingredients, and fresh food."

Behind the bar, Bakersfield will have over 100 bottles of domestic tequila and whiskey that runs the gamut from top to bottom shelf. Schmidt says the drink roster is still in the works, but to expect tequilas like El Jimador and Don Julio 1942, and whiskeys ranging from Knob Creek to Pappy Van Winkle.

Thunderdome now operates seven Bakersfield restaurants in five states. Schmidt says the company chose Detroit and Brush Park because it looks for "mid-tier cities, and areas on the up and come."

"Like that whole strip along Woodward," Schmidt says. "It's also part of our mission to have an impact on the neighborhood, so if we put a restaurant where jobs are needed, then we are being a good community partner and giving back to that neighborhood."