A downtown Durham restaurant pulled a quick disappearing act last week: La Mala closed for two days, then reopened as La Santa Modern Mexican Food. The new concept expands beyond cocktails into lunch, Mexican comfort food and oversized drinks, while keeping tequila and mezcal firmly in the picture. For diners, it was less a closure than a rapid rebrand.
The switch happened at the same downtown Durham address where La Mala had operated since 2022. According to The News & Observer, staff told the paper that La Mala closed for two days before reopening as La Santa, turning what could have been a vacancy into a near-instant handoff. The new restaurant is the brand’s second Triangle location and third site overall.
WRAL reported that La Santa held a soft opening last Thursday, bringing the group’s popular modern Mexican dishes and craft cocktails back into the same building. The move gives the owners a broader dining concept in Durham while preserving the cocktail-bar DNA that made La Mala a recognizable downtown stop.
La Santa Brings Lunch Specials And Jumbo Cocktails
The menu includes favorites such as Una Asada, La Santa Piña, the Burrito Momia and street tacos, along with weekday lunch specials featuring nachos, fajita burritos and chimichangas. Lunch runs from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with specials priced at $10, according to The News & Observer. The restaurant is also offering a 60-ounce margarita or cocktail made with Jimador Blanco tequila for $70, plus recipes inspired by the founder’s mother in Guadalajara.
The Raleigh-Durham Brand Is Still Growing
La Santa’s own website now presents the business as a Raleigh-Durham operation, while Downtown Durham Inc. lists the new restaurant among downtown’s current businesses. Its original location remains at Raleigh’s Glenwood South, making the Durham opening a notable expansion rather than a simple name change.
The result is a restaurant that looks new on the sign but carries plenty of familiar DNA behind the bar and in the kitchen. Durham’s La Mala chapter ended quietly, but La Santa arrived almost immediately with lunch, tacos and a margarita large enough to require its own seating plan.
