PUB CRAWL: Café Latino

With a winning combination of refreshing libations and taste-broadening cuisine amid cool aqua walls and sweeping wood accents, Café Latino is a North Adams, Massachusetts, hot spot that radiates a genuine sensation of summer, even from indoors. With a neighbor like MASS MoCA, it’s no wonder that Café Latino’s décor evokes the entrancing appeal of a contemporary museum, but contemporary seating on a broad, open-air patio is the finishing touch.

Warm summer air provides a soothing contrast to the cool drinks that favor tropical ingredients and a roster of several specialty rums and tequilas. Classic concoctions such as mojitos and caipirinhas are served alongside house specialties that blend creative ingredients, resulting in a refreshing twist on traditional cocktails like the Pinagranate (PAMA liqueur, vodka, and pineapple juice) and the Guavatini (a tropical cosmopolitan).

For beer-drinkers, a rotating array of microbrews by the likes of Lagunitas, Six Point, and Victory are available on tap, while a selection of better-known cervezas are available in bottles, including Bohemia, Tecate, and Negra Modelo. In sync with fellow Mezze Inc., eateries, Café Latino has a surefire, impressive selection of wines, with a focus on Spanish varietals to flatter the cuisine.

Enhancing its Caribbean and Central and South American menu with fresh twists and local ingredients, Café Latino invites patrons to expand their palates while still feeling at ease in the chic oasis. Juicy watermelon salad, a bowl of crispy calamari, or a plate of quesadillas oozing with queso fresco and marinated, pulled pork show off the spectrum of Latino seasonings.

By encouraging its varying and eclectic clientele in conversations that lean in the direction of art, fashion, theater, dance, and cinema while surrounding them with carefully curated dishes and drinks, Café Latino serves as an exhibit of leisure in its own right.—AMcG, LAB, and PMcL [JULY 2009]

THE GOODS

Café Latino
1111 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, Mass.
413.662.2004
www.cafelatinoatmoca.com