Two weeks ago, I reported on the opening of Botaneria, the lovely sibling bar of Georgetown’s Fonda La Catrina. I assumed the bar was called Botaneria because, on the night that it opened, that’s what it said on the menu. (Botaneria translates to a place to get snacks or appetizers).
Two days later, though, I received a text from someone with a photo of the same menu, except the name at the top was El Chamuco, which means the devil. I was confused, and then even more so when I read last week about the bar in Seattle Met, which referred to it as El Sirenito.
Just to be clear: The bar is officially called El Sirenito. And it is still lovely. I stopped in again last night for a mezcal and a Pacifico, and was unexpectedly treated to a taste of Sirenito’s montaditos—baguette slices slathered with za’atar-spiced goat cheese and topped with radishes and cucumber and drizzled with olive oil. As a thank you to the ten or so customers who were there at his new venture, owner Enrique Trejo was giving out a few snacks on the house. I resisted the urge to ask him about all the name changes, because I felt happy just to be there.
