Introducing: Mad Mexican, the Toronto salsa company’s new restaurant and retail store in Baby Point

Introducing: Mad Mexican, the Toronto salsa company’s new restaurant and retail store in Baby Point

Introducing: Mad Mexican

Name: Mad Mexican
Neighbourhood: Baby Point
Contact Info: 383 Jane St., 647-352-2555, madmexican.ca, @MadMexicanFood
Owner: Jose Hadad, creator of the Mad Mexican line of dips and sauces
Chefs: Jose Hadad

The Place: Ten years ago, Jose Hadad was mashing avocados in his kitchen. Today, he runs two Toronto restaurants (the other is Frida on Eglinton Avenue West), and his Mad Mexican products can be found on store shelves across the GTA. The brand’s new Baby Point headquarters is a restaurant, retail store and commercial kitchen in one. A handful of tables and stools cater to eat-in customers, while refrigerated cases display salsas, dips and guacs. Glass doors give shoppers a peek at the bustling production area, where a team of cooks chops tomatoes and onions to sexy Latin beats.

The Food: The chalkboard menu above the counter lists a handful of tacos, tortas and other traditional Mexican dishes, like sopa de tortilla (tortilla soup) and choriqueso, a sizzling skillet of pan-fried chorizo and bubbling Oaxaca cheese. For dessert, there’s rice pudding spiked with Mexican cinnamon and golden raisins.

The Drinks: Dos Equis and Sol beer are available by the bottle. Non-alcoholic options include fresh-squeezed orange juice and lemonade.

The Numbers:
• 800 avocados per day
• 100-plus stores across the GTA sell Mad Mexican guacs and salsas
• 24 seats
• 8 tacos on the menu
• 1 hand-carved leopard head from Yucatan