There’s a cantina now in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, that feels like it might have been plucked from a side street in Roma Norte and dropped, still humming, into 397 Tompkins Avenue. It’s called Dolores, the latest from husband-and-wife duo Cressida Greening and Emir Dupeyron—the same pair behind neighborhood favorite Winona’s. But this new venture hums with a different frequency: agave-soaked, smoke-sweet, loud with citrus and chili, grounded in Dupeyron’s memories of Mexico City and made tangible by the deft hand of Beverage Director Leanne Favre (Clover Club, Leyenda).
The concept is intimate—30 seats inside, 10 at the bar, and a few out front—but the flavors are unrestrained. The cocktail program, led by Favre, doesn’t merely nod to the cantina traditions of Mexico; it leans all the way in, then adds a few Brooklyn curves. There’s a draft Margarita made with house sour, a Mexican Espresso Martini riff on the Carajillo, and a Paloma balanced with grapefruit and sumac, carbonated “a minute.” If you’re in the mood to play, try the Midnight Cowboy—a Martini with cotija-stuffed olives—or the Mata Dolores, a frozen spin on the Painkiller with ancho chili and cocoa riding shotgun.
But what makes Dolores more than just a place to drink is the botana—the bar snacks, for lack of a better English word, that channel the tempo of a late-night taco stand or a loud backroom game of cubilete. Think Tlacoyo de Haba with nopal and fava bean purée, or Sopes con Picadillo with house salsa. There’s Pressed Seafood Aguachile and fried pork belly with guac. And of course, tacos: a Cochinita Pibil Turix inspired by the legendary El Turix in Polanco, and a steamed Lengua “El Bosque” taco, served like it is at the original, wrapped in napkins to keep the moisture in.
Design-wise, Dolores blends Mexican nostalgia with Brooklyn restraint—hand-carved tables for playing dice, cantera tiles, walnut-toned wood, green velvet banquettes, and bathrooms dressed in jade terrazzo with matching sink and toilet.
For late-night wanderers, Dolores serves tacos de canasta (basket tacos) after 11 PM on weekends, at just $2 a pop. It’s the kind of detail that makes you believe someone here misses Mexico as much as you do.
Dolores is open Sunday–Thursday 4 PM–12 AM, Friday & Saturday till 1 AM. Walk-ins only. No reservations. For more information, head over to the official website.
397 Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn, NY
@dolores_bk
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