Mad Mex is scheduled to officially open its reimagined Shadyside flagship, Mad Mex Sol, on Friday, Nov. 13, after a renovation that began in July. The South Highland Avenue restaurant kept daytime service going while the room and the menu were rebuilt around it.
The date is doing double duty. Founder Tom Baron has said Nov. 13 is his lucky number, and Big Burrito Restaurant Group is using the flagship as a test kitchen, not just a prettier version of a place regulars already know. WPXI reported the months-long transformation, including a physical menu that returns to the book format used in earlier years. Pittsburgh Business Times reported that Big Burrito is treating Shadyside as the experimental kitchen for new dishes and an updated visual identity.
A Sun Over the Bar
The centerpiece is hard to miss: a locally crafted sun fixture, nearly 15 feet tall, set in the middle of the bar. Pittsburgh Magazine describes it as a sculpture by a local metal artist, part of a brighter room that also adds outdoor seating.
The redesign opens up sight lines and adds custom fixtures and railings, graphic wallpaper, decorative ceramic tiles and sidewalk seating. Studio Unltd led the interior work. Principal Greg Bleier, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, paid for college by washing dishes at the original Mad Mex. Architect Dan Rothschild of Rothschild Doyno Collaborative carried the design through on site, and Wall to Wall, based in Pittsburgh and Honolulu, returned for the relaunch.
Shadyside is also the only Mad Mex with its own dedicated executive chef. That job belongs to Marty Sons, formerly of sister restaurant Kaya, who is preparing the Made in the Shade items coming out of the test kitchen.
Dishes Guests Can Vote On
The rebranded menu is meant to answer changed dining habits, pairing traditional plates with lighter options such as fresh bowls. Development mixed three kinds of work: tweaked old recipes, ideas borrowed from other Big Burrito restaurants, and dishes built from scratch. One of the new ones, the Cheeseburger Machete, is a giant rolled quesadilla filled with griddled ground beef, Oaxaca, cheddar and jack cheeses, sautéed onions, pickles and special sauce.
Guests can try the experimental dishes and vote through an online poll. Pittsburgh Magazine reports a QR code on the menu for instant feedback. Successful items may earn a permanent place on the Shadyside menu as exclusives, or expand to other Mad Mex locations. Some Made in the Shade dishes could eventually be served at every location, depending on popularity.
Matt Glick, Mad Mex food and beverage director and the inventor of the Gobblerito, a seasonal favorite since 2006, has said the team experiments with new dishes and unexpected combinations, and that customer feedback can influence what stays. He has also said the restaurant has learned a lot in 33 years. The old reputation ran through late-night Big Azz margarita specials. The Sol pitch is a more food-focused destination, and Baron wants it to reach younger guests without losing the customers who grew up with the brand.
From a Toddler Tantrum to Nine Locations
Mad Mex debuted in Oakland in 1993 as the original restaurant of what became Big Burrito Restaurant Group. Baron named it after watching his toddler, Max, throw a temper tantrum. The group describes the chain as funky fresh Cal-Mex.
The Shadyside site arrived in 2011 and is now the flagship. The Oakland location closed in 2023. Mad Mex has nine locations throughout Western Pennsylvania, so a dish that clears the Shadyside test has somewhere to go if the company decides to send it.
What Friday Is For
The scheduled opening follows months of daytime service through construction, so the room was never fully dark. What changes on Friday is the official Mad Mex Sol identity: the sun over the bar, the book menu, the sidewalk seats and a test kitchen with a chef the other locations do not have.
The practical next step sits on that menu. A vote can keep a dish in Shadyside, or it can send a winner out to the rest of the chain. That is the point of using the flagship as the lab.
