Dine & Dash: Westside story 🍽
OCC's new(ish) Agave Lounge is a drink-forward spot with simple, small plates and colorful personality
Agave Lounge opened in early January of this year after husband-and-wife owners Craig Dominguez and Jacy Olmos shut down their prior venture of three years, Westside Cantina, at the close of 2024.
Westside was located where Base Camp Restaurant is now operating, and Agave has taken over what used to be Cucuru Gallery Lounge at 2332 W. Colorado Ave. (next to Front Range Barbeque). Amusing tidbit: Cucuru’s owner Guillermo Alvarado is Agave’s landlord, and guests keep mistaking Craig’s dad Tom — who greets and seats guests and helps out — for Guillermo. So much so, as Craig tells me, that a confident gentlemen one evening on the way out turned to his wife, and embracing Tom, told her “Guillermo and I have known each other for 20 years!”
Apparently not that well, if he couldn’t actually tell the two apart. Craig loves razzing his dad about that incident, and even yells over his shoulder “Hey Guillermo” in Tom’s direction as he crosses the patio past our table. Tom stops and turns, quickly realizing he’s just responded to the name, thereby encouraging more usage of it and further affectionate ball-busting. The look on his face is priceless, and we all laugh. I’ve only just met the guys minutes ago, and haven’t yet introduced myself to them, though because of mutual industry acquaintances and a general knowledge of my work, Craig figures out who I am before I do. (That’s what asking several menu questions and wearing a fedora to dinner will get me.)
I’m going to detail what we eat and drink below, of course, but before I do, it’s worth relaying a little more about Craig and Jacy’s industry past and what led them to move down the street and rebrand. You can read in Craig’s own words how the two essentially grew up in the industry via this el Restaurante interview. And longtime Springs residents (that’s the polite way to say older people, ahem) may know that Tom and his brother Rick Dominguez were the founders (in 1984) and original operators of The Peppertree. In 1991, Tom sold to Rick, who later sold to the Levy family in 2003, who still operates it today.
Craig learned fine-dining service at Peppertree, and later worked for local restaurateur Joe Campana (Rabbit Hole, Crooked Cue, etc.), who was a founding partner in Westside Cantina until Jacy and Craig bought him out. Craig is still pals with other co-owners in the Campana orbit, like Lucas Frye (Cork & Cask) and Matt Baumgartner (Shame & Regret). He says they offered wise counsel when it came to struggles at Westside Cantina, particularly as it pertained to margins on food versus drink.
That informed how the couple and their house chef, Taylor Fraser, approached a much more simplified menu at Agave. It’s a single page, with ⅔ devoted to sips and only six small plates and a couple desserts comprising the food offerings. And of those, most are procured through U.S. Foods, Craig shares transparently, saying they tasted through all kinds of samples to pick quality products they felt good about serving. So Agave isn’t so much a place to eat as a primary goal and sip drinks; it’s the other way around, hence the “Lounge” part of the name. The converted-home-style layout (just as you remember from Cucuru) with cozy chairs and eclectic seating also matches the lounge versus restaurant vibe.
“You can make dinner out of it if you want,” Craig says, but the design is more about shared snacking plates to support Jacy’s craftwork behind the bar. Some of Westside’s most popular cocktails like a Mezcal Old Fashioned came along, and there’s a respectable four-drink mocktail menu that’s not an afterthought. The couple has remained sensitive to vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options on the food side too, despite the menu’s brevity.
We order a black bean hummus that comes with celery, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers and flatbread for $10, recommended by a friend of mine who works nearby and has been an Agave fan since it opened. It’s perfectly serviceable and fresh while a couple of vegan red chile tamales (filled with corn, zucchini, cilantro and garnished with a lime crema sauce) are simple, light and enjoyable too.
Craig had informed us of an off-menu Cubano sandwich, not trying to be the classic, but a spin on it, and we request it too. It’s a countertop-cooking-style panini sandwich, with charred grill marks across the halved schiacciata (thin, focaccia-like) white rosemary bread. Inside is ropa vieja-style beef bits, bell peppers and onions bound by a Mexican three-cheese mix (Asadero, Menonita and Oaxaca) and further seasoned by chipotle mayo and cilantro. It’s a good, hearty bite for $15.
For drinks, we try the Kinky Habanero cocktail and Black Ginger mocktail ($14 and $11 respectively). The latter features Tenneyson Black Ginger N/A aperitif mixed with agave, lemon, orange juice and chocolate bitters. The Tenneyson alone is more like a health tonic, with listed ingredients like dandelion, lemon balm, bergamot, yerba matte and gentian root. The drink’s citrus enhances the mild ginger bite and the chocolate bitters linger pleasantly in the finish. It’s more interesting than the plethora of boring Mule variants found elsewhere, with lazy spiking of ginger beer.
Similarly, the Kinky Habanero, which is excellent, holds a juiciness in the texture from OJ (minus overt acidity) and also a chocolate bitters conclusion. But its body tastes of deep coffee from Barker Espresso plus medium-spicy habanero tequila, while a cinnamon garnish stenciled into the foam gifts aroma and more flavor. Chocolate and chile essence linger on the palate after sips.
Scan a QR code on the menu for a neat spirits list or to upgrade a drink to top shelf or sub in something like bacanora or sotol for tequila. Especially if you’ve still never tried them, so you can get acquainted.
Schnip,
Where might I find some handmade delicious fried onion rings here in the Springs. Can't stand most of the pre-breaded frozen ones most places serve.