Bere Vallarino, Miguel Salgado and Fabiola Castillo have a simple reason for opening up at 1526 Blake St. in Denver.

“We want to share our knowledge, our customs and our culture,” Vallarino told BusinessDen. “We’re not just burritos and tequila.”

The three will open Terruño Ancestral Spirits in the LoDo space later this month, showcasing spirits from their native Mexico along with traditional dishes beyond the Tex-Mex style that has become commonplace in the states.

Castillo, along with Vallarino and Salgado, who are married, have been distributing tequilas, mezcals and lesser-known Mexican spirits like raicilla and sotol together for the last three years. They supply restaurants and bars across the state and hold events to teach their clients about the drinks, how they’re made and the farmers that make them.

At the time, Salgado also started experimenting with making his own cocktails, many of which will be served at Terruño.

“And that’s when we were like ‘we should get a place to do this,’” Vallarino said.

At Terruño, which is Spanish for terroir, they’ll have hundreds of spirits to choose from, along with beer, whiskey, vodka, gin and other liquors. Most will be sourced from farmers in Mexico, while the rest will be made by local distilleries, breweries and the like.

They’ll keep up their educational sessions several times a month, they said, even inviting farmers from Mexico to come to Colorado and talk about how they make their product. Vallarino also mentioned they’ll do a similar thing with Mexican chefs to feature cuisines from different parts of the country.

“The principal idea with all of this is to give help to the producers in Mexico,” Vallarino said, noting they work with small and medium-sized brands only. “They know they are getting a fair price from us for their products.”

The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., offering foods from around central Mexico with recommendations for spirit pairings. There will also be a grab-and-go café serving coffees, energy drinks and Mexican pastries from 7 a.m. through 1 p.m.

“We will have no waiters, only guides sharing with you and exploring the history behind every drink and cocktail,” Vallarino said.

Vallarino and Salgado, along with their two boys, moved to Colorado in 2019 after spending all their lives in Mexico City, where Salgado had an importing business. But after facing threats from gangs, they decided to leave their home country.

They became importers of Mexican candies and other small goods, which is how they met Castillo. She had a similar business during that time, after decades as an accountant in the U.S., where she’s been since leaving Mexico in 2000. The three joined up and pivoted to alcohol three years ago, a business they will still keep while running the restaurant.

They found the home for Terruño while delivering spirits to one of their accounts a few doors down, D’Corazon Mexican Restaurant.

The space — formerly home to Honor Farm, a haunted house-themed bar that closed at the end of last year — was being marketed by Zach Cytryn of Axio Commercial Real Estate, who set up a tour just days later.

In May, Terruño locked down a 10-year lease for the space, which they only had to make cosmetic changes to. It’s had a bar in it for over a century, Salgado said, and also used to be a hostel.

“Something told us we should be here,” Vallarino said. “It’s everything we were building in our minds.”

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