Like most of Lodi, you’ve probably fallen in love with Alebrijes, the Mexican Bistro that opened in Lodi in 2007. If you’ve never tried chef Ruben Larrazolo’s creations, you have an opportunity to visit the restaurant’s new location in Downtown Lodi that is now featuring more unique dishes and their own fruit-infused tequilas.

Alebrijes Mexican Bistro moved from its original home at Ham Lane and Lockeford Street to its larger restaurant at 10 W. Oak St. in December.

Alebrijes is owned by husband and wife duo Ruben and Adi Larrazolo. They live in Woodbridge with their two children.

From large burritos to homemade guacamole and vegan options, the menu includes the same customer favorites that were available at the first restaurant. But there are a few new things Larrazolos are trying with their contemporary Mexican cuisine, including dishes that aren’t just comprised around your basic steak or chicken.

Specialty plates include lamp chops with a tamarind chipotle glaze and green apple pico de gallo. The duck breast is served with his new approach to mole: a mingling of pecans, prunes, chiles, ancho and spices. The rabbit is even covered in his special mole sauces.

It isn’t Mexican fare you’re used to, but his customers keep ordering it.

“I never thought I was going to sell so much duck and lamb,” he said. The rabbit sells well, too, as do the buffalo tacos.

Other favorites include the petit filet mignon, which is topped with melted cheese and signature caramelized chipotle onions and a pork tenderloin covered with an ancho bourbon sauce. Ruben’s personal favorite from his menu is the skirt steak marinated for 24 hours in cilantro, jalapeno and lime juice.

Larrazolo is always trying new things in the culinary world. He is content with his new restaurant endeavor that includes a larger space, full bar and double the employees. Now, though, his next adventure is “doing it better every time.” 

Last year, he was a board member for Slow Food Lodi. He hosted wine dinners and tequila tastings, though he won’t be hosting those this time around.

“There will be no more wine dinners or tequila tastings — but whatever we’re going to do is going to be way better than that!” he said.

Lately, Larrazolo has been focusing on making sauces. He spent part of last year studying the art of mole in Oaxaca, Mexico, with chef Rick Bayless, host of the PBS series “Mexico: One Plate at a Time.”

Visiting a food’s region before he puts it on his menu is something Larrazolo does often, because he likes to know the reasons for cooking an ingredient a certain way.

In Oaxaca, he perfected the techniques for seven new moles, which are part of the 45 different sauces Larazolo uses at Alebrijes.

Larrazolo’s next learning trip will likely include days on the beach in Yucatan, since he wants to add even more seafood to his menu. Already on his menu are seafood dishes like the flavorful shrimp cakes and gaviotas Yucatecas (flour tortilla enchiladas filled with prawns sautéed with garlic, tomatoes and onions).

Alebrijes is also keeping its popular heart-healthy menu with vegetarian and vegan items.

“People have been so excited about it,” Larrazolo said. “We do have a lot of vegetarian dishes back in Mexico.”

Specialties include soy tacos served with brown rice and whole pinto beans, portabello mushroom fajitas, portabello burrito and enchiladas, and a vegan version of the shrimp cakes that is made with couscous and red grains.

“Everybody here has an option, we’re not limited to one kind of cuisine,” Larrazolosaid.

But not everyone visits Alebrijes for dinner or lunch. Many customers stop in for a basket of chips and his homemade guacamole that is made tableside. Wash it down with a cocktail from the bar, like a signature margarita. Alebrijes started making its own fruit-infused tequilas that are smooth enough to sip on their own, and are available in tropical flavors like pineapple, strawberry and kiwi, spicy mango and blackberry pineapple. 

The lower-calorie skinny margarita is served in a glass and tastes just like a traditional margarita. Other margaritas are bright yellow and fruity, and others are so pink that one customer commented, “This tastes like you expect the color pink to taste.”

It is zesty and served with sliced jalapeno on top, a coupling you might not imagine works as well as it does.

Whatever your reason is for visiting Alebrijes, Larrazolo says it will be an experience.

Contact Lodi Living Editor Lauren Nelson at laurenn@lodinews.com.