The ribbon cutting has been held for southwest Michigan’s newest Tex-Mex restaurant. Anemel Tortaria will open to the public this week at 225 East Main Street in Benton Harbor. It’s the brainchild of Houndstooth co-owner James Galbraith and wife Gabriell. At Monday’s ribbon cutting, James Galbraith told us this isn’t your usual Mexican restaurant.
“We’re going to use some global flavors,” Galbraith said. “It’s also something we do at Houndstooth as well, but we’re going to do a little bit of a fusion, for a lack of a better word, and we’re just going to have fun. We have a cow bell for when you buy the kitchen a round, we ring the cow bell. There’s a Playgirl spread of Burt Reynolds in the bathroom. So, this is all the super causal, fun stuff that’s lived in my head for a long time that I haven’t been able to do in fine dining.”
Galbraith said Anemel Tortaria will offer a twist on Mexican cuisine that fuses in elements from other cultures. It’s been in the works for some time after a previous test with pop up Mexican place in Sawyer didn’t quite work out. He and another partner identified the site for Anemel Tortaria in Benton Harbor and got to work on preparing to open. With the ribbon cutting held, a soft opening will be this week and Anemel Tortaria will open to the public Friday.
