Rebecca Flanery
After debuting a Lexington location at Fayette Mall last summer, the Agave & Rye family of restaurants is set to open a Louisville location in February. The new restaurant will be the fourth in the budding regional franchise, which has realized positive gains in notoriously competitive markets.
Yavonne Sarber and her husband, Wade Sarber, founded the first Agave & Rye Tequila & Bourbon Hall (www.agaveandrye.com) in a 100-year-old building in Covington, Kentucky, in February 2018.
Now residents of Cincinnati, the Sarbers previously lived in Columbus, Ohio, where they operated a collection of fine dining restaurants, including de NOVO Bistro & Bar, Oliver’s BSB (Burgers, Steaks, Bourbon), Manifesto Tuscan Grotto & Scotch Bar and upscale French eatery Chez du Bon. Each of those restaurants saw success over many years, Yvonne Sarber said, but the couple was ready to develop a more casual restaurant concept, which she said more closely aligns with what today’s diners are looking for— fresh and approachable, without the pretense or white tablecloths.
Some elements of the Sarbers’ upscale restaurant past emerge on Agave & Rye’s menu, like a taco with butter-poached lobster and truffle oil aptly named the Crown Jewel, but the price point and overall atmosphere are geared toward everyday dining.
“Flip it on its head, make it more approachable, and put it on a taco—that’s what we did,” Yavonne said of the craft-casual concept.
Rebecca Flanery
Agave & Rye is known for its “epic tacos,” in reference both to their size (double-shelled and packed full) and atypical ingredients. The Rooster, for example, contains crispy fried chicken with Nashville hot sauce and homemade macaroni and cheese. Perhaps the most unusual item on the menu is the Sensei taco, which features soy-and-ginger marinated kangaroo tenderloin dressed with sticky orange rum glaze, crispy rice noodles, lettuce, spicy peanut chili oil and shaved green onions.
The Lexington location was the second Agave & Rye. A third location in Liberty Township, Ohio, opened this past October, with the newest offering, at 426 Baxter Ave. in Louisville, slated to open this month following extensive renovations. The historic Louisville building’s former incarnations include The Brewery and Ward 426, which closed last July. The Louisville Agave & Rye can seat 120 inside and 150 on an outdoor patio and bar area. The location will also feature vintage arcade games.
For now, the menu will mimic the existing winter menu, which debuted in January. In addition to 15 epic tacos, ranging from $4 to $11 each, menu items include carne asada and chow mein stuffed eggrolls, pimiento cheese with a soft tortilla, or sticky agave and chile barbecue chicken legs. A new “proper dinner” entrée features whiskey and Coke-braised short ribs with Israeli couscous, which Yavonne hails as “probably one of the best-things-that-you-ever-put-in-your-mouth delicious.” A lone brunch item is worthy of a mention—blueberry white chocolate French toast topped with a fried egg.
The drink menu has also expanded to include new brands of mescal. Drinks are made with fresh ingredients, including scratch-made simple syrups. “We take the bar as seriously as we do the food,” Sarber said.
Sarber enjoys being able to bring new job opportunities to the communities where she opens new restaurants, she said, and takes great pride in providing opportunities for growth to their employees, several of whom have been promoted to the franchise’s corporate team in recent years.
“We’re very much into coaching and growth, promoting from within and bettering the lives of our employees.” —Agave & Rye co-owner Yavonne Sarber
“We’re very much into coaching and growth, promoting from within and bettering the lives of our employees,” she said. “In turn, they’re able to give lasting experiences to our guests.”
Agave & Rye had 35 employees total last July, and 150 by the end of the year, Sarber said. Once the Louisville location opens, the company will grow to about 200 employees.
While she said the Lexington location is still finding its stride, Sarber isn’t discouraged. “We absolutely love Lexington; we love the community,” she said. “I’d say that we’d love to be a little bit busier in comparison to our other stores.
“We’re used to complete chaos,” she added, which hasn’t happened here.
The Sarbers are actively scouting for new locations, saying that the goal is to locate restaurants no closer than 30 to 45 minutes from other locations. She hinted that another Agave & Rye will be well on its way by the third quarter of 2020, perhaps in the Hyde Park area on Cincinnati’s east side and maybe another in Nashville after that.
With a menu centering on tacos, chips, salsa, queso, guacamole and margaritas, one might assume that Agave & Rye is strictly a Mexican restaurant. Sarber hopes to dispel that assumption with a new menu that reflects a broader palate and other adjustments.
“Our goal is to really widen the expectation about what you think you’re getting when you walk in,” she said.