Page 14 - Camden Classically Carolina 2020

Salu
d
Salud
Salud
Salud
Salud
Salud ! “I wanted to do
Salud
Salud
something a little

more Mexican and

introduce people to

real tequila and

cocktails.”

like the food, drinks and setting, it was love at first sight multiple San Jose’s, I wanted to do something different.
between the building and Bravo. I wanted to do something a little more Mexican and
introduce people to real tequila and cocktails. Everybody
“I always wanted to do something in Columbia, but I loves a margarita, but unfortunately, a lot of places
came across the Galleria one day and I fell in love with buy pre-packed mix and add tequila to it. I wanted to
the building,” Bravo said of Salud!’s origin in 2011. “A introduce people to something different, but I didn’t
couple months later, I was going to get my hair cut and know where.”
while I was there, I started walking around inside the
Galleria. A couple months later, somebody called me and Enter downtown Camden where Salud! has an extensive
said, ‘Carolina Café (1011 Galleria’s former tenant) is list of tequilas along with a wide-ranging offering of
moving across the street.’ I said, ‘OK,’ because I didn’t cocktails and beers. Salud! has a unique and upscale
know where she was going with it. I said, ‘Why are you menu which features fresh ingredients that its chefs
telling me this?’ She said, ‘Didn’t you say that you loved turn into an upscale dining experience.
Alfonso Bravo and his wife, Amalia Macias, enjoy a drink at the bar at Salud! that space and wanted to do something there?’”
Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Lounge in Downtown Camden. With the success of Salud!, Bravo set his sights on
A few months later, Bravo signed a lease and Salud! was opening a restaurant in Columbia’s Vista district. In
on its way. 2018, Coa Agaveria Y Cocina was opened. He didn’t want
A Salud! was the second restaurant opened by Bravo who from his Camden business. Bravo visited his parents’
it to be a knockoff of Salud! while taking away customers
trip for a haircut usually means a few minutes of relaxing before coming away with a
clean, fresh look. This one had a restaurant attached after the clippers and razors were
had done everything from waiting tables to cooking to homeland and went to Mexico in search of ideas for
packed up.
washing dishes before managing the San Jose in Lugoff. his establishments along with his wife, his cousin and
He bought and brought San Jose to Elgin with his another business partner in the hopes of putting a new
While waiting for his turn in the chair, Alfonso Bravo decided to use a few minutes to take a good look brother in 2007. It was the start of a winning run for menu together. He also took cooking classes in the south
at the interior of the bottom floor of 1011 Galleria on Broad Street in Camden. Shortly thereafter, Bravo who, after graduating from high school, decided to of Mexico in order to learn about the flavors and cultures
after the tenant moved across the street, the area was transformed into Salud! Mexican Kitchen and take a semester off. A semester turned into a year as he in that region while also incorporating the tastes of the
Tequila Lounge. Things haven’t been the same since. became immersed in the restaurant business. central and northern regions of a country which has a
rich and diverse gastronomical heritage on fresh food-to-

Salud! has become a staple in downtown Camden. Tables are hard to come by without a reservation for “I started working full-time for my father at San Jose in table offerings.
a restaurant which draws its loyal clientele from the Midlands and beyond. As much as the customers Lugoff, started making money, put off school and never
went back to it,” he said. “Working for my dad in Lugoff “Here in Camden,” he said of Salud! and his Columbia
for so many years and for my cousins in Columbia at location, “we are very fortunate that people drive from all

22 / CAMDEN~CLASSICALLY CAROLINA
CAMDEN~CLASSICALLY CAROLINA / 23