Ostrich, kangaroo, 'gator and rattlesnake are not items typically found on a Mexican restaurant's menu, but Boca Fiesta can hardly be considered a traditional Mexican restaurant.
The restaurant, which opened this summer and is located downtown, at 232 SE First St., touts a unique menu and a continuously blossoming social atmosphere.
With a co-founder who spent the last eight years playing drums in one of Gainesville's most revered bands, Against Me!, and a name that translates to "Mouth Party," how could one not be intrigued?
Boca Fiesta's co-founder, Warren Oakes, toured the world several times over with Against Me!. Along the way he has tasted food from dozens of countries - from putrefied shark in Iceland, to kangaroo in Australia.
The decision to become a restaurateur came to Oakes during his time traveling and performing with Against Me!
"Food and music have always been my two passions," Oakes said. "A realization came early on that you have to eat multiple times a day, every day for the rest of your life, so you might as well enjoy it and do it well."
Oakes always had an idea of the type of establishment he hoped to open, but being so consumed with music, the implementation escaped him, which is where co-owner Jacob Ihde stepped in.
"He has opened restaurants before. He won a silver medal at the Pizza Olympics last year," Oakes said. "He's got quite a food service pedigree under his belt."
Oakes planned to split his time between recording and touring with Against Me! and opening the doors at Boca Fiesta. But he soon discovered he would be spread to thin.
"It wasn't going to be feasible to do both simultaneously," he said.
To avoid short changing either project, Oakes chose to commit to the restaurant.
"I had a really good run playing music. I spent eight years touring and recording and really living that life fully," Oakes said. "It felt like that it was time for a new chapter, so I just threw myself into this completely."
The co-owners chose the restaurant's Tex-Mex concept because they felt downtown Gainesville lacked a Mexican restaurant that serves margaritas and features a full bar.
"We decided to make a place that we would want to go to," Oakes said.
The menu, which was created with Florida in mind, makes Boca Fiesta unlike any Mexican restaurant in town.
"A lot of places don't really do the fish taco justice," said Oakes.
Rather than using imported, frozen fish, Boca Fiesta imports fresh tilapia every other day and adds the spices in house.
"We have 'gator on the menu all the time," he said. "We realize we're right in the middle of The Swamp, so it's not just a novelty game day special that we do. You can get a 'gator burrito, a 'gator taco, any day. It's whatever you want."
He has found many patrons have their first taste of 'gator meat at Boca Fiesta and end up loving it.
The non-traditional food items span far beyond 'gator tacos. The restaurant features a monthly "Game Menu," with select wild meats that changes every 30 days.
The locale featured ostrich in June and kangaroo through July, and in August rattlesnake will be swapped into the menu.
The Game Menu was inspired by by the many meats Oakes tasted during his world travels.
"Everyone is so used to chicken and cow and pig, and that's pretty much as far as it goes for them," he said.
Kangaroo meat is low in cholesterol and cosuming it helps the environment.
"They are dangerously overpopulated in Australia right now, so it's actually encouraged to consume them as livestock in order to shift the focus away from cows and lamb and other more traditional meats," said Oakes.
The game meats are also rich in flavor.
"You don't need to suffer through eating this weird meat to be good to the planet. They stand out on the taste aspect as well," he said.
While meat is a staple item on the menu, Boca Fiesta welcomes carnivores and herbivores alike. "The tempeh is a living food and has a great flavor to it," Oakes said.
The house tempeh is made in Gainesville and brought in daily.
Customers can also create a vegetable protein taco, burrito or taco salad. Commonly known as TVP, most restaurants mix it in with ground beef to cut costs. But, Boca Fiesta serves TVP by itself as a ground beef mockup.
"A lot of people love it. My dad is a meat eater, and the TVP taco is his favorite thing on the menu," said Oakes.
Boca Fiesta's business will soon go beyond serving up tacos and margaritas, as it begins to embrace downtown Gainesville's nightlife.The restaurant already screens movies in its courtyard and Oakes hopes to soon make live music a staple.
"We have a band lined up to play soon as sort of a test run," he said.
Warren wants Boca Fiesta to be a place where patrons can enjoy downtown as a place to go for something other than raving and clubbing.
"It feels like that idea [clubbing] is represented 10 times over," Oakes said.
