The creative mind behind Monkey’s Tail and Trash Panda Drinking Club is stepping things up for his new project. Concrete Rose, the new bar from Greg Perez, is now open in downtown Houston.
Located on the ground floor of the historic Purse building (1701 Commerce), Concrete Rose is an elevated cocktail bar that’s inspired by Perez’s heritage as a Chicano and first generation Mexican American. It’s a big change for the bar owner, who’s best known as one of the founders of Mexican American sports bar Monkey’s Tail and the proprietor of Trash Panda Drinking Club, the Lindale Park bar known for its quirky sense of humor and creative pop-ups.
Perez tells CultureMap that’s Trash Panda’s success paved the way for Concrete Rose. With the bar running smoothly, he was able to travel for the first time in five years. When the property’s owners presented him with the ability to open a new concept, the inspiration from those travels helped fuel the design, menu, and overall direction of Concrete Rose.
“After my London trip, I started to feel comfortable with executing an ambitious project. I decided to go back to what I know best, which is myself,” Perez says. “When you walk in, you’ll see a lot of callbacks to me and Trash in a very elegant way.”
Rather than a conventional bar, Concrete Rose takes much of its design inspiration from streetwear boutiques. Framed photographs honor different aspects of Chicano culture, such as low riders and religious imagery.
“We have a really dope picture of an altar. It’s a little bit of a show stopper,” Perez says.
That streetwear theme continues with Concrete Rose’s cocktail menu. Styled after a lookbook, it uses lifestyle photography that shows the drinks but doesn’t make them the image’s sole focus. One section consists of eight, “boundary pushing” cocktails that are inspired by The Rose That Grew from Concrete, a posthumous collection of poems written by Tupac Shakur. For example, the “No One Else Cared” puts a spin on guacamole by using avocado ice cream, fried avocado skins, and tomato.
Another section, dubbed “Kickbacks,” features more familiar flavors, including one drink inspired by the guava danish at Perez’s favorite bakery in Mexico City. Classics are just that,r efined versions of staples like the margarita and ranch water.
Soon, the bar will roll out a food menu of dishes that blend various global culinary traditions with Mexican flavors and techniques. It’s created by chef Fernanda Alamilla, who worked for Perez as sous chef at the short-lived, critically-acclaimed Mexican American restaurant Chivos. Dishes include beet tacos, fish crudo, and the “BJ Sandwich.”
“The execution is there. And the creativity is there. You won’t see us trying to catch a trend. We put a lot of attention into the details. There’s a lot of Easter Eggs,” Perez says.
Concrete Rose won’t be Perez’s only new concept at the Purse building. In the coming weeks, he’ll introduce Uncle Charlie’s Athletic Club, a Mexican American sports bar that applies the lessons he learned from Monkey’s Tail in a new format.
Courtesy of Concrete Rose
Concrete Rose is now open in downtown Houston.
“I wanted the feeling to be your cool uncle’s bar,” Perez says.
For now, bar goers can head downtown to meet Concrete Rose, which is open daily from 4 pm-1 am.
