Amasa Mexican Kitchen Nears Opening in Downtown Alpharetta

Downtown Alpharetta is getting close to welcoming one of its more distinctive restaurant openings of the year.

Amasa Mexican Kitchen is nearing completion at 15 Academy Street, Suite 1E, inside Alpharetta City Center. The new restaurant is taking over the former Jekyll Brewing space and is still targeting a summer opening.

As of Aug. 6, the interior was visibly coming together, with color going onto the walls, the private dining room taking shape and work advancing on the back bar. An exact opening date has not yet been announced.

Amasa will bring a Baja California-inspired approach to Mexican food, with seafood playing a much larger role than it does at many neighborhood Mexican restaurants. Executive Chef Joey Vazquez is leading a kitchen built around dishes such as Baja fish tacos, ceviche, carne asada fries, sweet corn esquites and sizzling fajitas.

One unusual feature will apply across the entire menu: everything will be gluten-free.

Tacos will be served on house-made organic blue-corn tortillas, giving diners with gluten sensitivities the rare option of ordering freely from a full Mexican menu rather than navigating a short list of substitutions.

Alpharetta diners have already had an early taste. Amasa held three Monday-night pop-ups at The Standard in July, and all three sold out. Its Baja fish tacos also won Best Entrée at the 2026 Taste of Alpharetta, giving the restaurant some momentum before its permanent dining room has even opened.

The drinks program is intended to be just as important as the kitchen. Amasa is planning a dedicated tequila room, classic and specialty margaritas, margarita flights, Mexican beers and wines from Valle de Guadalupe, one of Mexico’s best-known wine regions.

The restaurant will also stretch beyond the usual dinner format.

Plans include a Sunday cazuela brunch inspired by Mexico City, live jazz and Spanish-language music, tequila classes, tasting dinners and other culinary events. Upstairs communal tables will provide a more social setting, while two private dining rooms downstairs will accommodate smaller groups and celebrations.

Amasa comes from TQM Hospitality, the restaurant group behind Chichería Mexican Kitchen at The Works in Atlanta and Buena Vida Tapas Bar along the Eastside BeltLine. Owner Juan Calle is bringing elements of Chichería’s Baja-inspired cooking north while developing Amasa as its own concept for Alpharetta.

The location could prove particularly well suited to it. Alpharetta City Center has increasingly become a restaurant destination in its own right, with businesses surrounding the Town Green and feeding into the larger downtown dining district.

Amasa adds something slightly different to that mix: not simply another place for tacos and margaritas, but a restaurant trying to combine coastal Mexican cooking, nightlife, brunch and special events under one roof.

And after months of anticipation — and three sold-out preview dinners — Alpharetta may not have much longer to wait.

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