Zócalo? Todos Santos? Opening in early April.

[Edit: Zocálo opened May 5; I reviewed it May 8.]

A job posting this morning on the window of the soon-to-be-open Mexican restaurant downstairs asks for applicants to send e-mail to "zocaloseattle@gmail.com". Zócalo?

I expect that'll be the name of the place. Last November, the liquor license application listed "Todos Santos" as the name. Last month, I dug a little deeper, and found job postings for a general manager position and a chef position at Todos Santos, along with what looked like a placeholder beach logo.

I also pointed out that "Todos Santos," is the name of a coastal Mexican town, and that the name and the beach logo were at odds with the job posting description of "modern Mexican as is currently being executed in Mexico City (not Tex-Mex rice & Beans)." Mexico City is 170 miles from the coast, and the town of Todos Santos is 800 miles away. That would be like opening a Chicago-style pizza place in Washington DC and naming it "Memphis." The name just doesn't work.

Despite that, I was pretty sure that Todos Santos was the name. The next week, I deliberately ignored a Seattle Times article with a one-line preview of the place: "Zocalo will open late March or early April in Pioneer Square, a 7,000-square-foot restaurant in Occidental Square that will focus on the kind of modern cuisine found in Mexico City, the owner said." What does the Times know? They don't even spell it with the accent on the "ó".

The Zócalo in Babylon 5

My first thought, because I'm a nerd, is that the Zócalo was the central marketplace on the cult favorite show Babylon 5, and denotes a plaza for commerce. I guess it works.

But then I checked for job postings again, and on Monster.com, see two positions at "Todos Santos Restaurant & Bar":
- Bartenders for a "Mexican Restaurant in Pioneer Square [for] a large, high-volume scratch cocktail bar"; and
- Cooks and dishwashers for "Mexican cuisine with a focus on local and sustainable ingredients. We will be open seven days a week, for lunch and dinner."

(The bartender job posting also states that it's set to open the first week of April. That's just over a week away!)

Then, finally, on a whim, I decided to see if zocaloseattle.com was a thing. It's a registered domain, but there's nothing there yet. But looking at the domain registration information, I see that Joseph Bisacca is the name of the person who registered it. If you remember, he's one of the founders of Elyssian Brewery, and was one of the names listed on the liquor license application.

The Times was right. Zócalo it is. Or Zocalo, without the accent, but that would be wrong. Todos Santos LLC is likely the name of the parent company. And it's opening next month.

Bring on the tamales. And the ó.