Madison restaurateur opening spot on top of Moxy hotel
A Latin American inspired restaurant from a well-known Madison restaurateur is going into the new Moxy hotel on East Washington Avenue. Ben Roberts, the owner of Pasqual's Cantina in Madison, is opening Atico, a Latin American-inspired restaurant at the new Moxy hotel on East Washington Avenue. The restaurant will be located on the eighth floor and will seat 150 indoors and 60 outdoors. Roberts and Alin Stupinean, the owners of the hotel, NCG Hospitality, were approached by the hotel for a concept similar to what they do at Pasqual’s and Taberna Tacos & Tequila. Roberts said he liked the self-service aspect of Moxy hotels and chose Atico as a name that sounds "loungey".
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A Latin American-inspired restaurant from a well-known Madison restaurateur is going into the new Moxy hotel on East Washington Avenue.
Ben Roberts, the owner of Pasqual's Cantina, said he's opening Atico, which means "penthouse" in Spanish, atop the hotel at 823 E Washington Ave. by late fall.
The restaurant will be on the eighth floor.
Roberts opened Taberna Tacos & Tequila May 8 at 1925 Monroe St., in a former seafood store. His partner in Atico and Taberna is Alin Stupinean.
He said they were approached by the owners of the hotel, Middleton-based NCG Hospitality, "as they were looking for a concept similar to what we do at Pasqual’s and Taberna. When we heard that the intention was to be a lounge, more focused on creative cocktails and a smaller food menu, it was interesting to us, as it will be very different than what we now do."
Roberts said Atico will seat 150 indoors and 60 outdoors.
He said he liked the self-service aspect of Moxy hotels. "We thought we could play into that with Atico."
At the 151-room, music-themed Marriott-branded hotel, which opened in March, there's no traditional front desk.
Instead, guests check in at the bar, where they're offered a signature welcome drink. And if they need an extra towel, more shampoo or an iron, they can serve themselves from neon-lighted cabinets on each floor.
"We also really appreciate the relationship with the team at NCG and the fact that it’s a local company with people we know," Roberts said.
Roberts said he came up with the name. "Seemed appropriate as we will be on the top floor of the hotel. The team threw around a bunch of fun names and we landed on Atico as it sounds ‘loungey,’ which is what Moxy is going for with the rooftop restaurant concepts that they engage."
He said the menu will be broadly Latin American inspired with no crossover planned between his other restaurants. He said he doesn’t have a menu finalized and is always refining and making changes up to the last minute.
Roberts began working at Pasqual's on Monroe Street when he was 15 and, in 2001, bought the business. He has opened and closed a number of Pasqual's, including one at the Hilldale Shopping Center, and one on East Washington Avenue.
Two Pasqual's are still operating. Roberts has had Pasqual's in Verona for 22 years and one in Middleton for 2 1/2 years.
Since 2018, Roberts has run a food truck, a GMC motorhome, inside a Wisconsin Dells business called Grateful Shed that houses a group of food trucks.
Stupinean, his general manager for the truck, expressed interest in owning his own business one day. So, they worked out a deal where Stupinean now licenses the truck from Roberts.
After about a year of that, Stupinean, who lives in Wisconsin Dells, said he wanted to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Roberts said the first month at Taberna has been great. "The response has been amazing."
Topik: Food & Drink