Dive Bar Jukebox with Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez
"Si nos dejan, nos vamos a querer toda la vida."
Welcome back to Dive Bar Jukebox, where every Friday bartenders, writers, chefs, musicians, and a cast of cool characters answer the question: If we were hanging out together at a bar and I put ten credits on the jukebox, what songs would you punch in and why? The answers reveal thoughts on their favorite dive bars along with a hand-picked, annotated playlist for your weekend listening pleasure.
Please welcome today’s special guest…
Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez
Co-owner of the newly opened East Village Mexican-American cocktail bar Superbueno, Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez is known throughout New York City and beyond for his generous and welcoming hospitality and ability to curate all-around good vibes.
Originally from Mexico before moving to New York City, over the course of his 20 years in the hospitality industry Jimenez has worked as a host, runner, waiter, and barback before becoming a bartender at Madam Geneva and eventually joined the critically acclaimed bar team at Saxon + Parole (both bars are now permanently closed). He then had a homecoming of sorts running the beverage program at Ghost Donkey (permanently closed), a Mexican-inspired tequila and mezcal located in the former Madam Geneva space located behind Saxon + Parole that become an unofficial hangout for bartenders around the city.
With Superbueno, which opened in April, Jimenez has created an eclectic space for “shared conviviality and joyful gatherings that pays homage to Mexican culture while distinctly reflecting its home in New York.” Among the house cocktails you’ll find the Green Mango Martini (Tequila, Mango Eau de Vie, Sauternes, Green Mango, Honey), Roasted Corn Sour (Corn Whiskey, Reposado Tequila, Toasted Corn, Guajillo, Lemon, Egg White), and a Mole Negroni (Fat-Washed Mezcal, Sweet Vermouth, Campari, Mole Spices, Bitters). A breakout favorite is the “Sopa del Dia,” Superbueno’s house boilermaker served as a copita of the Mexican agave spirit raicilla and a glass of warm birria consomé, alongside a cold can of Monopolio lager dressed with “Masa's hot sauce.”
For his guest appearance on Dive Bar Jukebox, Jimenez, who is also known to hop behind the ones and twos as a DJ in his own right, shares an eclectic playlist that hits that late-night dive bar zone of rowdy and raucous with just the right amount of contemplative melancholy.
Talking Dives with Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez
What is your favorite dive bar and why do you love it?
Nacho: 169 Bar. I love the crowd and how crazy it looks inside. It has a little bit of everything, mermaids and dinosaurs, fairy lights, an animal-print pool table, that little stage. Feels like you’re in New Orleans. Nothing looks like it goes together but it does. But that’s what I love, things you don’t think go together but they do, and its great.
What makes a dive bar a dive bar?