New Bar and Restaurant For South Side

A new bar and restaurant would offer authentic Mexican dishes, drinks and entertainment in the Clarke Square neighborhood.

La Playa Mariscos y Bar is set to open at 721 S. Cesar E Chavez Dr., just north of National Ave., at Jenny’s Plaza, a strip mall-style building that also houses National Liquor Mart and Cigarette Depot.

The restaurant would serve mainly seafood dishes, said co-owner Juan Manuel Cabral Dorado, who would run the business alongside Guadalupe Cabral Villarreal and Felipe Martinez.

Originally from Mexico, Cabral Dorado refined his culinary skills while working in local restaurants. Most recently, he worked at China Gourmet in downtown Milwaukee. After 15 years in the Milwaukee restaurant scene, Cabral Dorado decided to open his own establishment.

Cabral Villarreal, his mother and business partner, has plenty of experience herself, having worked in restaurants since 2005. Before relocating to Milwaukee, Cabral Villarreal spent four years learning the ropes at a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles.

The bar and restaurant expects to generate 60% of its revenue from food, with 30% coming from alcohol sales. The remaining 10% is expected to come from entertainment, which would include dance performances, live music, DJs, contests, patrons dancing, jukebox, karaoke and five amusement machines.

La Playa Mariscos y Bar would have a capacity of 290 guests. The establishment would also offer catering and delivery services.

The future bar and restaurant and the adjacent businesses are set back from a parking lot just south of the 16th Street Viaduct. The lot features ample parking space for patrons.

La Playa Mariscos y Bar would open in the former Tycoon Sports Bar & Grill space. Before that, it was Lavish, a nightclub.

Once open, La Playa Mariscos y Bar would operate Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m., Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. and Sunday from 6  a.m. until 2 p.m., according to a license application for the business.