About 30 runners gathered outside Westlake Brewery Co. for a recent cool Wednesday evening for a self-paced out-and-back along scenic Swiss Avenue. No one was racing here. It s a casual trot with friends and neighbors, with cold beers waiting at the finish line. Dig a hole, fill it up. That s how most running works.
Afterward, faces glistening from a light sweat gather around tables with pints of beer, squares of paper and pens in front of them. Some have giant pretzels or plates of nachos. They re getting ready for group trivia, a fast-paced, pop-culture, general knowledge-friendly game hosted by a funny 20-something-ish with a microphone in the center of the room. It s a good time. Easy and spacious. Different parties around the room lean into their own conversations. The founder makes the rounds regularly, refilling beers or passing out stickers, as many as you d like.
There’s a gaping hole in the structure at the southwest corner of Malcolm X Boulevard and Commerce Street in Deep Ellum. Westlake Brewing said their new neighbors will soon be Federales Tacos and Tequila. A quick search shows they already have a website up.
The first Federales opened in Chicago in 2016, and another outpost is in Denver. This concept is from 4C (Four Corners, no ties to the local brewery) and the Deep Ellum “open-air tequila and taco concept” is scheduled to open this fall.
A signature pastime of Federales is to order a shot of tequila in an ice glass, slam it, then throw the ice at a bell that hangs over a fire pit to “Ring the Bell.”