Casa Colombia

Words by Abby L. Johnson Photo By Will Bowling

The road to Casa Colombia as it exists now, a spacious building on East 7th outfitted with a covered patio and a full-service bar, was not a straight one. Before Casa Colombia opened its doors, Emilia Hurtado originally opened a small Colombian restaurant that thrived on her flavorful, homemade-style recipes. Her authentic and flavorful dishes caught plenty of well-deserved attention. Eventually, however, the cost of rent and other unforeseen factors left Emilia with the tough decision of what to do next in order to keep the dream that she had built here alive.

The Nunez family, Emilia’s close friends, bought her business and began to expand on her well-laid ground with Emilia working the back of the house and continuing her love of cooking and refining recipes, while Joseph Nunez began to oversee operations in the front.

Upon graduating from Texas State University, Joseph Nunez unexpectedly found himself working full-time in the hospitality industry. His parents needed all-hands-on-deck, so the family sent him to bartending school. And in 2015, the restaurant acquired its liquor license and found its current home on East 7th Street. That’s when Joseph became fully engrossed in the world of mixology and made it his mission to serve up hand-crafted cocktails with careful attention to detail and familial warmth.

As a result, the Casa Colombia bar makes everything as fresh as possible. Coconuts are cracked open specifically to house the Coco Loco. Mint is hand-muddled for the Colombian Mojito, and the bar prepares an array of tropical juices on site, which are infused into most every drink on the menu. Joseph brings in Colombian specialties like lulo, a kiwi-like fruit that is imported from South America.

The ingredients are not only fresh, but they also pay homage to Colombian traditions. Parce rum, a Colombian specialty, is the base of several of their drinks. However, the most authentic offering on the bar menu is the Aguar Mule. Its main ingredient is a traditional Colombian liqueur called Aguardiente, which loosely translates to ‘fire water.’ It’s an anise-flavored liqueur, giving the drink an ever so slightly bitter finish. Joseph wanted to incorporate the signature flavor into the drink menu as a tribute to Colombian culture, but knowing that Aguardiente can be overpowering, he tempers it with ginger beer and a fresh squeezed lime, creating a spin on the classic mule.

One of the most popular drinks on the menu is the Colombian Martini, served with a salted rim and a cocktail shaker on the side, “basically getting two drinks in one,” he confides. “Right now, the menu leans on the sweeter side. In the future, I’d like to bring in drinks like the whiskey sour,” he says.

The ultimate goal, though, is to one day make the menu into a virtual trip through South America by capturing the local flavors of a region in a glass. The inclusion of the caipirinha, a Brazilian cocktail, on the menu hints he’s already on his way. His knack for bringing unfamiliar flavors into classic cocktails sets Casa Colombia apart, capturing the spirit of the Eastside while retaining the integrity of Colombian culture.

Did you know…
Casa Colombia’s cocktails can be ordered to go? Pick your flavor: maracuya (passion fruit), pineapple, strawberry, cucumber, mango, mora (blackberry), lulo (soursop), guayana (guava), peach, and raspberry. Add one of these fresh-squeezed juices to your favorite South American cocktail such as the Mojito, Coco Loco, or Caipirinha.

Contact:
(512) 495-9425
2409 E 7th Street
casa-colombia.com
@casacolombia7th