Botanico Tacos & Tequila Has a New Menu — and Thursday Is a Pretty Good Night to Try It
Botanico Tacos & Tequila Has a New Menu — and Thursday Is a Pretty Good Night to Try It
There’s something new cooking at Botanico Tacos & Tequila.
The Mount Dora restaurant has launched a new menu that considerably expands what you can find beyond the tacos and tequila in its name — and if you’ve been meaning to see what Botanico is all about, there happens to be a pretty good opportunity coming up this Thursday.
But first, the food.
Located at 4025 CR 19A, Botanico describes itself as a modern Mexican restaurant with roots in the flavors of Veracruz. Tacos remain an important part of the experience, but the menu now stretches much further into the kind of dishes that can turn a quick stop for drinks and a few shared plates into a full dinner.
Think tamales, enchiladas, birria, fajitas, pozole, milanesa, adobo de puerco and shrimp a la diabla alongside tortas, burritos, tacos and plenty of shareable starters.
There’s room to graze, too. Chile relleno spring rolls, yuca fries and elote wings are among the options that make it easy to order a few things for the table before deciding whether you’re actually sharing.
And, of course, this is still Botanico Tacos & Tequila.
The restaurant’s original identity paired Mexican-inspired food with tequila and cocktails, creating a space designed to change with the time of day. Botanico describes daytime as more relaxed and neighborhood-oriented, with casual gatherings and outdoor dining, while evenings shift toward a livelier dinner-and-cocktails atmosphere.
That makes the space itself part of the reason to visit.
Botanico works as a lunch stop, dinner destination, drinks-with-friends spot and gathering place — something we’ll be putting to particularly good use this week.
A Thursday Night With a Little Extra Sparkle
On Thursday, September 17, the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce will take over Botanico from 5:30–7:30 p.m. for Books, Boots & Botanico, a special Chamber After Hours hosted with Triangle Community Alliance in support of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Lake County.
Following Dolly Parton’s death in August, the evening also offers an opportunity to celebrate a legacy that extended far beyond the music.
Parton launched the Imagination Library in 1995, beginning a childhood literacy effort that would eventually grow into an international program distributing hundreds of millions of books. Through the Lake County program, enrolled children from birth through age five receive a free, age-appropriate book delivered directly to their home each month.
So yes, there will be networking.
But this particular After Hours is also going to have a lot more rhinestones than usual.
Botanico has created a special Dolly-inspired cocktail lineup for the evening, including 9 To Lime, Jolene’s Coconut and Dollywood After Dark.
There will also be an extended happy hour menu, giving guests a chance to sample some of Botanico’s new food offerings while exploring the restaurant, meeting other members of the community and raising a glass to Dolly.
Dolly music, dancing and Dolly-inspired attire are all part of the plan. Boots, big hair, rhinestones and a little extra sparkle are very much encouraged.
A Good Night to Discover Botanico
That’s really what makes Thursday such a natural fit.
You can hear that Botanico has a new menu. You can scroll through the dishes. But an After Hours gives you a chance to actually experience the restaurant as a space — order something you haven’t tried, grab a cocktail at the bar, move around, meet people and see how the atmosphere changes once a crowd fills the room.
It’s also a good time to show the restaurant some extra local support. Botanico remains open and serving guests while extended road construction continues along Old 441, and Thursday gives us an excuse to pack the place.
Come for Dolly. Try something from the new menu. Stay for another cocktail.
Just remember: 9 To Lime is considerably easier to order than it is to get out of your head.
Books, Boots & Botanico
Thursday, September 17 | 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Botanico Tacos & Tequila
4025 CR 19A, Mount Dora
The event is free to attend, but advance registration is required.
