The old Basta’s Ristorante on 1625 4th Street South in St. Pete has been taking on a different kind of complexion as of late. Phil Farley, a local developer responsible for projects such as the Coquina Key Plaza and Urban Style Flats in downtown, will be taking over the property.

A mural of a skull and a mammoth chicken ornament the entrance of the soon to come El Gallo Grande (The Big Rooster). In case you get lost a golden hand and a remarkable finger are there to remind you it’s "That Mexican Place." The Vitale brothers have been laboring on ladders for weeks transferring a true Robert Rodriguez insignia onto every square inch of the restaurant.

The exterior is tattooed with a tilted portrait of Maria Felix, a mexican actress regarded as the penultimate leading lady in the Golden Age of Mexican film. Her face bares the jagged tenderness of the gritty femme fatale characters she embodied. The portrait is an interoperation of her 1950 film, The Devil is a Woman.

*Photo via Johnny Vitale

The artistic endeavor into brushing soul on the walls has been going on for a little over a month now. An opening date for the restaurant is still in flux with a menu still left to the imagination. However if the outside is any indication, our new local Grindhouse will soon be a staple in the ‘Burg’s foodie paradise.

Article by Andrew Harlan, Writer/Editor for iLovetheBurg.com

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