A restaurant offering a wood-fire Spanish-Latin menu opened this week in Alpharetta.

Located at 10 Roswell St., Fogon & Lions comes from chef and restaurateur Julio Delgado, who also owns neighboring pizzeria Minnie Olivia.

Fogon & Lions was inspired by Delgado’s grandfather, Polo Lopez, who was a butcher in their native Puerto Rico. A photo of Lopez hangs in the entryway of the restaurant. “The whole concept is a tribute to him,” Delgado said.

The menu is dominated by Spanish, South and Central American and Caribbean dishes cooked on a 14-foot-long hearth from Grills by DeMant, including pollo a la brasa, a South American-style rotisserie chicken; a churrasco skirt steak with chimichurri; seafood paella; pulpo “al fogon” with pimenton and fennel puree; and three kinds of ceviche.

“Everything is very simple and very straightforward,” Delgado said. “We just let the fire do its job.”

He got to reconnect a bit with his roots on a couple of the menu’s dishes, including the beef empanadas with pickled aji pepper, a recipe he got from his father.

The bar at Fogon & Lions offers outdoor sidewalk seating.

Credit: Ash Wilson

icon to expand image

Credit: Ash Wilson

“He didn’t give me any (measurements), just the ingredients, so I had to experiment to figure it out,” he said.

The beverage offerings include a section called “mis tres amores” (my three loves), which include selections of rum, tequila and bourbon. The cocktail list includes the Fogon Grand Fashion, Delgado’s take on an Old-Fashioned made with Don Q rum (he grew up just blocks from the factory where the rum was made).

The space features “colonial-style” decor with lots of iron, dark woods, stone walls and pops of yellow.

A 30-seat bar offers both seating inside and outdoor sidewalk seating; all together, there’s seating for about 70 guests inside and 80 outside.

Fogon & Lions’ opening hours are 5-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and 5-9 p.m. Sundays. Delgado plans to add lunch and Sunday Latin-style brunch hours in the coming weeks.

10 Roswell St., Alpharetta. 770-676-9133, fogonandlions.com

Scroll down to see the complete menu for Fogon & Lions:

Fogon & Lions menu

Credit: Fogon & Lions

icon to expand image

Credit: Fogon & Lions

Fogon & Lions menu

Credit: Fogon & Lions

icon to expand image

Credit: Fogon & Lions

Fogon & Lions menu

Credit: Fogon & Lions

icon to expand image

Credit: Fogon & Lions

Fogon & Lions menu

Credit: Fogon & Lions

icon to expand image

Credit: Fogon & Lions

Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter

Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.

About the Author

Featured

Pinky Cole's Ponce City Market location in Atlanta, Georgia, 'Bar Vegan', during lunch time on April 5, 2024. (Jamie Spaar for the Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Credit: Jamie Spaar