A new modern Mexican restaurant is headed to one of the Central West End’s busiest corners. After launching Lapez Mod Mex just outside Kansas City earlier this fall, the team behind Session Taco is ready to bring the concept to St. Louis, taking over the current Session space at 398 N. Euclid Ave. Session will close Sunday, Nov. 30, and the restaurant will undergo a quick 10-day refresh before Lapez opens.
The concept comes from brothers Jason and Adam Tilford, who said the ideas behind Lapez had been percolating long before Session Taco returned this summer. “We actually had this idea before we reopened Session, but we were too far along,” Jason said, noting how much the Central West End has shifted in recent years, from nightlife-heavy to a full-fledged dining district. With that change, the timing felt right to bring a more ambitious project to the neighborhood.
Lapez draws early inspiration from the brothers’ former Webster Groves hit, Milagro Modern Mexican, a small but widely acclaimed restaurant that earned them a Riverfront Times Best Local Chef award and helped launch what eventually became Mission Taco Joint, which later rebranded to Session Taco due to trademark infringement. Milagro’s seafood-forward cooking and layered flavors serve as a reference point again, but Jason emphasized that Lapez goes further, thanks to a wood-fired grill and smoker they didn’t have back then. “We’ve got authentic wood-grilled flavors now,” he said. “We’re bringing back that emphasis on fresh seafood we were known for at Milagro.”
The menu will be a complete overhaul from Session Taco’s offerings. Jason said nothing from the current menu will carry over. Instead, guests can expect dishes such as shrimp al pastor with achiote butter and smoked pineapple, chile-braised short ribs with pistachio mole, and wood-grilled carne asada topped with huitlacoche butter. A special happy hour menu, available from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, will pay homage to Mexican street food and seafood with items exclusive to that time slot.
The cocktail program is also getting an upgrade. The team is removing Session’s frozen drink machine to shift focus toward crafted cocktails developed by industry veteran Josh Laney. Expect Mexican-inspired riffs built with house-made ingredients like chile de árbol–infused tequila, ginger-serrano lemon syrup and smoked pineapple syrup.
Inside, the restaurant will keep its minimalist look with light changes to paint and décor since most of the space was rebuilt brand-new during the post-fire renovation. “Everything is new, so it won’t take much,” Jason said.
Lapez Mod Mex is set to open Wednesday, Dec. 10, for dinner service only. The restaurant will be closed on Mondays and will not serve lunch.