Dos Coyotes founder opens new pub/Southwestern restaurant hybrid concept in Folsom
Southwestern cuisine’s roots are in fusion, a medley of Mexican, Native American and white settlers’ flavors. Bobby Coyote’s decision to merge Dos Coyotes Border Cafe ingredients with typical sports bar fare at his new Folsom restaurant falls right in line with that tradition.
Coyote opened Coyote Bar & Kitchen last week as “a Southwestern restaurant with an Americana influence,” he said. It replaced Broderick Roadhouse, which shut down with the shelter-in-place order on March 16 and never reopened, in a 3,800-square foot building at 185 Placerville Rd., Suite 150.
As Broderick owner Chris Jarosz consolidated to focus on his midtown Sacramento location, Coyote, a minority investor in Jarosz’s restaurant as well, felt the neighborhood wanted something lighter and slightly cheaper. Entrees at the full-service Coyote Bar & Kitchen run between $8 and $15, and sandwiches come with a side salad, fries or fruit.
“I think people are going to really enjoy the food, the price point and how there’s something for everybody,” Coyote said. “It’s a place you can go more often than not. We’re going to try to be that neighborhood destination.”
The menu isn’t fully set yet and will change seasonally, but the first draft currently being offered hints at how executive chef Mark Casale plans to fuse Southwestern spices with pub food. A meal might start off with green chile fries or blue corn nachos before leading into a Santa Fe sandwich (chicken, bacon, avocado, arugula, Hatch chile jam, white cheddar and a house sauce on a Village Bakery bun) or Albuquerque chop salad (spiced pulled chicken, apples, jicama, celery, black bean corn salsa, bleu cheese and fried onion strips over lettuce).
More typical bar food like wings, burgers and a BLAT wedge salad rounds out the rest of Casale’s menu, and Coyote Bar & Kitchen also plans to make use of the pizza oven Broderick left behind. Standards like margherita and pepperoni pizzas are flanked by more scarcely-found toppings such as roasted pumpkin seeds, mango sauce and house-pickled sweet-and-spicy peppers.
“We’re just playing around with things right now. It’s a working menu that can change and evolve. We’ll see what the clientele is wanting up here and can gear toward that,” Coyote said. “At this point we’re just trying to have fun with the whole thing without losing our shirts.”
A full bar with three large TVs is stocked with a range of tequilas and whiskeys, though Coyote said it won’t be fully used until social distancing concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic subside. Coyote Bar & Kitchen is open for dine-in service as well as takeout from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
Dos Coyotes has 12 locations, all but one in the Sacramento area. Though all serve beer and wine at least, only the Citrus Heights and San Ramon locations have full bars to rival Coyote Bar & Kitchen’s.