Step Inside: Fonda

Fonda 12 South, a new buzzy Mexican eatery, was born out of a decades-long friendship between a seasoned Nashville restaurateur and a celebrated New York chef. 

When Howard Greenstone, a partner in Emmy Squared and the founder of Red Pebbles Hospitality (Adele’s, Sadie’s, Gertie’s Whiskey Bar), heard that Josephine was closing, he reached out to his friend, chef and cookbook author Roberto Santibañez. 

“When Howard first learned the space was turning over, he immediately called me and said, ‘This is the perfect place for a Fonda,’” says Roberto. “We both knew pretty quickly this would be an incredible opportunity to share my authentic and elevated Mexican cuisine.” 

In the early aughts, Howard owned Rosa Mexicano in New York City, and Roberto was the chef. Howard sold his interest in the company in 2008, left New York for California, and ended up moving to Nashville about five years ago. In the meantime, Roberto opened Fonda, which now has three locations in New York and another opening in Tokyo. 

The Music City menu has its own signature, offering both small plates, like the wagyu con mole de avellanas (wagyu ribeye with mole sauce) and quesadilla de hongos (a quesadilla with maitake mushrooms and truffle oil), and family-style options — taco boards with your choice of protein, blue corn tortillas, salsa, slaw, black beans and pico de gallo. 

“The idea was that Fonda had name recognition, and Roberto is a great culinary chef,” says Howard. “He and I get along really well. And I said, ‘Listen, I want to push the envelope. I don’t want to do heavy Mexican food, where everything is rice and beans and heavy.’” A visit to a Spanish tapas restaurant in town made him wonder if the concept of small plates would work in a Mexican restaurant. After a little brainstorming, a new menu emerged. Fonda 12 South draws from both of their skill sets. “The menu is me. The brand is him. The flavor profiles are him,” says Howard.

On a recent Sunday night, the restaurant was humming with patrons perched on neon-yellow metal stools at the large, concrete, centrally located bar. While tobacco-leather banquettes give the main dining room a comfortable, homey vibe, vivid bursts of color liven it up. There are bright yellow dining chairs, electric-blue dome lights hanging from exposed ductwork and pink cabinets in the sunroom. Dining chairs are covered in colorful Mexican blankets, and the wall décor includes busts of actual Mexican wrestlers and tiles depicting a popular Latin American board game.

Variety is the very spice of life

The menu at Fonda is designed to take diners on a culinary adventure through Mexico. “Groups should order and taste a little bit of everything, from burrata con friojoles negros (warm burrata with black bean sauce and toasted sesame seeds) and esquites con langosta (grilled lobster with street corn) to enchiladas and tacos,” says Roberto. The beverage menu is equally varied, including wine, Mexican beers and craft cocktails, like a classic margarita with tequila, lime and agave and an espresso martini with rum and Kahlúa.

Home sweet home

One goal of the design, done in-house, was to stay away from kitschy décor, says Howard. “It’s as if we’ve owned this for 20 years and we just kept putting a little something on the walls and it’s not too composed,” he says. Howard was inspired by the late Mexican architect Luis Barragán. “He believed in sort of intersecting colors, if you will,” he says. There are pops of various colors here and there, but the goal is for it to feel “comfortable and lived-in.” 

Let’s do brunch

In addition to serving dinner, the 120-seat restaurant has just begun to offer weekend brunch. Highlights include chilaquiles divorciados (scrambled eggs and tortilla chips with salsa verde, salsa roja, cream and cilantro) and the pollo bowl (chicken tinga served with hazelnut mole, fried egg and rice). To accommodate a variety of palates, there are also items like amaranth pancakes served with powdered sugar, strawberries and maple syrup. Howard says they plan to ease into lunch and breakfast, adding, “I don’t think there’s anything better than Mexican breakfast.”