New downtown El Paso gastropub, entertainment venue opening
EL PASO, Texas -- It's one of downtown El Paso's newest venues: The Reagan. The gastropub and entertainment spot is located off Mills Avenue and opening this weekend.
Alex Nava and his wife Kassi Foster-Nava, the daughter of El Paso billionaire Paul Foster, have been working for over a year to open their new businesses in the heart of downtown.
Foster-Nava owned a boutique in Austin for several years, while her husband has been in the DJ industry since he was a teenager. Together the couple is putting their experience in both industries together, combing all of their favorite things into one space for El Pasoans to enjoy as a love letter to their hometown.
"It's been great it's like working with my best friend," Nava said.
The Reagan, which is Foster-Nava's middle name, serves hand-made cocktails by award winning bartenders and food. "Lately we've been calling (The Reagan) a chameleon," Nava said. "It's a cafe in the morning, it's a restaurant from lunch to dinner, it's a wine bar on Wednesdays, a venue on Saturday's, it's a little bit of all the things that we enjoy."
A commissioned disco ball by Yolanda Baker, who's made handmade disco ball's for "Studio 54" and "Saturday Night Fever." Guests can also enjoy a Zoltar Fortune Booth, made famous through the movie "Big" starring Tom Hanks. Neon signs with quotes from famous songs by Joy Division and the Smiths, along with edgy wallpaper can been spotted on the walls.
The venue is another attraction to help revitalize the downtown area. "It's just blossoming and we just wanted to be apart of it," Foster-Nava said. The couple said they worked to keep the history of the building, by maintaining and restoring the brick wall and detailed ceilings.
"I think El Paso's always had this, just on a smaller scale... Now we've combined forces with the best (people) and I think now El Paso's definitely ready for this (kind of venue)," Nava said. "There's this thing that people always say when they walk in here, they say 'it doesn't seem like a place that belongs in El Paso.' That's something that we want to get away from because we are from El Paso, this is El Paso."
The grand opening is Friday, June 18. To learn more, click here.
