Alipús Endemico

Alipús is a distiller of mezcal which recently began exporting a few varieties of mezcal to the United States and is already gaining recognition as one of the prime producers of craft mezcal, being compared with famous and highly regarded small-batch mezcal producers like Del Maguey.

Alipús has ventured into the realm of bars and restaurants, opening three mezcalerías in the Mexico City metro area, Alipús Condesa, Barra Alipús Tlalpan, and Corazón de Maguey in Coyoacán.

We recently visited the Condesa restaurant to see if they were as good at running restaurants as they are at making a mezcal.

The restaurant has an excellent location and is nicely decorated. There’s lots of outdoor seating along two sidewalks along the perimeter of the restaurant.

The menu is strictly traditional Mexican fare. Servers are young, polite and attentive.

I ordered the Flautas Ahogados (Smothered Flautas). Three corn tortillas, stuffed with a shredded beef, fried until crisp, covered with creamy cheese, then smothered in a salsa verde.

I regret to say that the dish fell short of expectations. The beef filling was overcooked and a bit dry and the corn tortillas were difficult to cut. I was having to tear the flautas apart to just to get a bite on my fork. The salsa verde was a bit tart. The accompanying salsas were good but couldn’t quite make up for the difficulty I had consuming the dish.

The flautas were accompanied by two portion of bone marrow. The marrow had disintegrated to almost nothing. I managed to get one small cocktail spoon (which I had to request) filled with the marrow from inside the bone. Nothing more.

Overall, the meal just fell a little bit short of what I was anticipating and hoped for. The execution of the dish fell way short of the ambiance and service. Fortunately, the prices are quite reasonable which made the shortcomings of the meal slightly more palatable.

Alipús is worth a second look but I fear that until they find a new chef and modify the menu, the restaurant will have trouble gaining the respect of local diners.