Ann Arborites show up in force to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Tios Mexican Cafe is betting that the local enthusiasm for holidays with a reputation of increased imbibing will spill over to its new Cinco de Mayo celebration.
The restaurant is closing the block of East Liberty Street between Division and Thompson streets from 9 a.m. Sunday until 2 a.m. Monday for an all-day (and night) fiesta. The city of Ann Arbor approved the street closing for an event that will include live music, drink specials and free giveaways.
Liberty Street will be shut down from 9 a.m. Sunday until 2 a.m. Monday between Division and Thompson streets for Tios' Cinco De Mayo party.
“But that was on a Friday so a lot of offices were catering parties and that sort of thing. We don’t expect to get as much of that this year but that’s one of the reasons we thought it would be good to try something new and different like this.”
Seaver said that despite the novelty of blocking off the street, she and her employees have plenty of experience with outdoor festivities.
“We’ve done other events for years like Top of the Park, the townie party and Taste of Ann Arbor so we’re used to schlepping ourselves into the streets,” she said.
Cinco De Mayo’s origins stem from a Mexican victory over French troops at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The victory did not prevent the French from eventually occupying Mexico, but was seen as a symbolic victory by a smaller Mexican army that was out-manned and out-gunned by the French forces.
Although it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, much less significant than Mexican Independence Day, the day has gained popularity in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture. For some Americans, that culture has been simplified into a “Drinko de Mayo” festival that often revolves around the celebration of margaritas.
“The whole day has kind of grown for us over the past few years since we moved over here and got bigger and busier,” Seaver said.
“Last year was tremendously successful and it was too much for the indoor space we had. This is the first time we’ve done anything on this scale, though. It’s pretty big for us.”
Tios acquired the necessary permits from the city to sell tequila outdoors, and Seaver said some special shots will include worms from the bottom of bottles of mezcal.
The restaurant also will be providing entertainment for those below the legal drinking age in the form of a number of musical acts including a mariachi singer and the bands Tumbao Bravo and Los Gatos.
“We think it will be a really fun time with the music and the atmosphere, particularly falling on a Sunday,” Seaver said.
“We wanted to have stuff for families to come and enjoy the nice weather, fingers crossed.”
If a large crowd does show up to the celebration, Tios will have a full staff ready to serve them. The kitchen will be so busy and so there will be so much staff on hand that Seaver is bringing in food from other restaurants to make sure that her employees have enough to eat.
“We’re going to be ‘all hands on deck’ on Sunday, that’s for sure,” she said.
“Even people who used to work for us who don’t any more are coming back. We have one kid who moved back home after school is driving in to help out and even my daughter is coming in from Royal Oak to pitch in.”
It’s still four days away, but current forecasts call for no rain and high temperatures in the mid-60s. Seaver said she has no idea how many people will show up on Sunday, but that she hopes it is the beginning of a new tradition for the restaurant and the city.
“We’d like to make this an annual event and we figure it will grow as the years progress,” she said.
“A lot of it will have to do with the weather, but this weekend is already crazy with everybody in town for the university’s graduation weekend. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2