Tepeyolot Cerveceria is a hidden food and beer gem in the San Marco area of Jacksonville
When I was staying in Jacksonville recently, and needed a recommendation for dinner a friend suggested a stop at Tepeyolot Cerveceria. I looked up the brewery on social media, and the best description was “Tepeyolot Cerveceria is an Aztec-inspired brewpub in San Marco East.” When I was told about the concept – taqueria and craft brewery in one – my curiosity was piqued. It was close to my hotel and less than a half mile away from Aardwolf Brewing, so after a quick walk through the quiet area adjacent to the highway, up came this easily overlooked small brewery and taqueria. Upon opening the door at 5pm, there sat a few early diners and a staff prepping for a dinner crowd with a soft guitar player strumming in a corner. The brewery was just getting started in the evening early dinner hours, but the beer and food experience sets Tepeyolot Cerveceria (Tepe’s for short) apart.
The menu demands attention: Fresh guacamole and appetizers, along with esquite corn for appetizers. Every entrée can be made vegan or spicy, including the chosen dish: mushroom quesadillas. It was between those and the sopes (masa cakes topped with choice of protein), but mushrooms seemed the more desirable choice. The quesadilla also seemed the better option to pair with the helles lager on draft, after the keller pilsner with appetizers.
The draft list kept attention focused on its many choices. For a small restaurant attached to a taqueria, Tepe’s knows what they are doing. Some of the most remarkable selections on draft paired perfectly with the food, like their Helles Yea (helles lager), Montezuma (pilsner), Zwickel (unfiltered pilsner), Hoppy Lager (India pale lager), Czech Yo Self (dark lager), and No Manchez Marzen (marzen lager). Aside from the well-made lagers were the intriguing high-gravity beers like Pillowtalk English barleywine, Las Sombras Hablan (A blend of three barrel-aged doppelbocks, aged eight months, and our maple vanilla rye English barleywine). It is rare anymore to see one barleywine, much less a barleywine/ barrel-aged doppelbock blend. All of these beers put together formed an outstanding draft list for light appetizers, meal pairing, after-dinner sipping.
The overall experience is unique and uncommon. The laid-back Friday night at Tepey’s will live in my memory as a top-notch beer experience – authentic Mexican cuisine paired with a diverse, quality beer selection served by attentive servers while a smooth and unobtrusive guitar player was performing. All-in-all, a great way to spend a young Friday evening.