Sahm’s Hospitality Group plans to bring a new taco and cocktail concept called Mamacita to 11501 Allisonville Road in Fishers, according to original reporting by IndyStar dining reporter Bradley Hohulin.

Eddie Sahm, the company’s vice president of business development, told Hohulin that Mamacita has an ambitious target of opening in November.

The restaurant will take over the former Rockstone Pizza and Big Lug Taproom space. The Sahm’s concepts operated at the location from 2013 until 2025. The retail development also houses the original Sahm’s Restaurant, which has served the Fishers community since 1986.

Mamacita represents a new direction for the family-owned hospitality company, which has introduced more than a dozen restaurant concepts during its approximately 40 years in business.

Sahm told IndyStar that trips to Mexico City helped inspire the new restaurant. He was particularly drawn to the city’s relaxed, welcoming bars, including establishments where clawfoot tubs were used to hold iced beer and wine.

Another influence is Turner’s, a downtown Indianapolis bar in the Stutz building that Sahm’s manages. Turner’s has developed a close relationship with neighboring Julieta Taco Shop, effectively creating the kind of tacos-and-cocktails experience Sahm hopes to offer at Mamacita.

“The food and the energy, it just feels so right,” Sahm told IndyStar. He described the concept as a come-as-you-are bar pairing carefully prepared food with high-quality cocktails.

Mamacita’s menu will focus primarily on the cuisines of Mexico and Central America, with the possibility of seasonal dishes inspired by Brazil and Peru.

Plans also call for the restaurant to source Indiana-grown corn through Lebanon-based Sugar Creek Malt. The corn will be nixtamalized—an ancient preparation process that improves its flavor and texture—and pressed into fresh tortillas at the restaurant.

Sahm said the goal is to combine Indiana ingredients with Latin American approaches to cooking.

Longtime Sahm’s beverage director Steve Simon will oversee Mamacita’s drink program. The selection will reach beyond tequila and mezcal to include cocktails shaped by Simon’s experience and individual style.

Simon previously worked at Vanguard, a now-closed Broad Ripple restaurant, and helped open Half Liter BBQ in Indianapolis’ SoBro neighborhood in 2019.

Rather than relying only on traditional cocktail recipes, Sahm said the team wants to create drinks that seem familiar while offering unexpected or exotic flavors.

Mamacita is expected to become the 12th restaurant currently operated by Sahm’s Hospitality Group. The company is also developing a 13th concept, Handsome Johnny, for a yet-to-be-announced Indianapolis location.

This article was written from and credits original reporting by IndyStar dining reporter Bradley Hohulin. Read this story at this link (you will likely need an online IndyStar subscription to access this story)