Sueño adds a Day of the Dead vibe to Center City’s Mexican restaurant scene

Teddy Sourias, who owns five bar-restaurants in Washington Square West, has opened a Mexican-theme restaurant and tequila bar called Sueño. The new restaurant is next door to the seasonal pop-up bar Nightmare Before Tinsel.

Sueño, at 114 S. 12th St., solidifies Sourias' holdings at 12th and Sansom Streets, where he also owns Finn McCool’s. Around the corner, at Juniper and Chestnut, he has BRU, Tradesman’s, U-Bahn, and Kontrol.

The neighborhood isn’t short on Mexican-theme bars, given that Sueño is also a block from El Vez and Lolita.

Sourias and his Craft Concepts Group have installed plenty of art amid Day of the Dead-inspired decor. Executive chef Caroline Hough, last at the nearby Porta, is doing Mexican standards (tacos, nachos, quesadillas, sopes, huaraches), with Puerto Rican-style empanadas from Tata’s Empanadas as an option.

Sourias is calling Sueño a work in progress, since he has started only with the first two floors. Before the pandemic, Sourias bought the building, which over the years has housed a revolving door of restaurants including New London, Odeon, Bistro Bix, TPDS, Lilly’s, Les Bon Temps, Tweed, Pennsylvania 6, and most recently Midtown. Sourias also owns Blume and the seasonal Uptown Beer Garden, west of Broad Street.

There’s indoor seating, as well as an outdoor streetery setup that dovetails with Nightmare Before Tinsel, so one can get drinks from Sueño’s list as well as Halloween-style cocktails from Tinsel, which will close after Halloween to make way for the Christmas-theme pop-up Tinsel.

Hours: 4 to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday, 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.