New Mindful Brewing to reopen 99 Bottles as Asadero eatery
99 Bottles, the Carnegie beer bar in a former Pizza Hut, is being rebranded as a Mexican restaurant inside a taproom of Mindful Brewing Co., which owns the place.
Asadero by Mindful, which is to open Monday, is a separate business within the taproom, says
Mindful co-owner Dustin Jones. Jazmine Castillo of Upper St. Clair and her family will be making and serving the food there.
She says the Mexican menu, which they still are finalizing, is mostly tacos — everything from al pastor to vegan options including nopalitos, or cactus. Other offerings include a Pittsburgh taco and, yes, there are fries on it.
There will continue to be a lot of beer, Mindful’s and otherwise — about 35 drafts and lots of craft bottles and cans.
Ms. Castillo says her husband, Isaac, has a construction company that did some work for Mindful and that’s how they all met. This will be her family’s first restaurant. Mr. Jones’ comment: “The tacos !!!! So good!!”
Mr. Jones says they’re still working for a specific Carnegie-esque name for this new Mindful outlet at 1001 Washington Ave.
The restaurant-within-a-taproom concept is one Mindful also will be doing at its new storefront at 4752 Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield. When it opens later this year, Mindful will have 10 taps dispensing draft beer. Carmen Swayse of Downtown’s Creative Coffee & Supply will be pouring beer and coffee and serving pastries and sandwiches. The storefront will be open to its neighbor, White Whale Bookstore.
“It’ll be really good for them,” says Mr. Jones, who’s renovating apartments upstairs. “All our businesses complement each other.”
And the arrangement allows the Mindful Brewing brand to grow without having to run its own kitchens or line up food trucks.
Next up: Mr. Jones and his friend and partner, Jeff Sorbara, also are planning and developing the transformation of a Catholic school and social hall on the edge of Mount Washington into apartments and a Mindful speakeasy with some awesome rooftop views. But that’s a ways off yet.