Red Mesa Group is already beloved for its downtown cantina, original 4th Street restaurant, and fast-casual mercado. Now, St. Pete’s treasured home for Mexican and Southwestern eats is bringing something entirely new to the table.

Red Mesa’s fourth concept is the aptly-named Quatro, a new food truck dishing out its own style of Americana cooking. Quatro will be permanently located in front of Green Bench Brewing in the EDGE District, and the food truck has its official grand opening this Friday evening, October 7.

As we wait on the full menu to be revealed, Quatro has left a few bread crumbs to follow, and the indications are that this will truly be a departure from the restaurant group’s popular Mexican and Southwestern fare. We’re told the concept’s new menu will be a “form of classic American with a St. Pete spin,” and some of the pop-up items on Red Mesa Mercado’s menu this summer offer a bit of insight on what that may mean.

At the end of May, Mercado debuted a pop-up shrimp roll overflowing with saucy and seasoned shrimp. The next pop-up to hit the streets was a delectably cheesy and topping-strewn smash burger, followed by a Carolina BBQ pork and mac and cheese bowl.

Add in sauce-laden chicken tenders, a loaded chili cheese dog, and massive baskets of cheese fries that all came out of the kitchen over the summer, and we can start to get the picture of what the Quatro food truck will be bringing to town.

Quatro born from pandemic ghost kitchen

What we do know for sure about Quatro is how the new concept got its start. Originally, Red Mesa Quatro was a ghost kitchen operating out of Red Mesa Cantina. It was opened shortly after the onset of covid, when restaurants were closed, and meals were only available to-go or delivered.

Like many other restaurants in similar situations, Quatro was a way to stimulate sales in a trying time. But, it turned out the team behind Quatro liked what had been created. So when the restaurant world righted itself, ownership kept the concept on the backburner as it eyed a way to make Quatro a more permanent offering in its lineup.

Now, in the fall of 2022, Quatro is coming full circle, growing from the original proof of concept into a permanent standalone food truck in St. Pete. Follow Quatro on Instagram at @quatrostpete for more updates.

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