It’s safe to say that when Tony Kaufman decided to join forces with his brother Nick, the destiny of The 581 was etched in stone.

As their own version of the restaurant businesses’ ‘Batman and Robin,’ or ‘Thor and the Hulk,’ the establishment, 107 South Washington, has seen its impact on local taste buds grow over the past five years.

So much so, that now it is receiving attention for publications outside the immediate area increasing The 581s chances of becoming ‘viral’ in a matter of speaking.

“We had so many customers that had been here when we were grinding it out, a lot of people liked (their sliders), so when we talked about maybe getting rid of them some customers threw a fit and we continued to keep them,” Tony said of the original menu staple. “We kept them and made (bigger sandwiches and burgers) to give people more choice.”

The choices The 581 have given the people over the last few years has made its mark.

“A lot of our customers may eat with us three times a week,” Nick said.
Out of 161 Google reviews, the restaurant has garnered a 4.6 rating on a 5.0 scale. Facebook ratings were at 4.7 out of 100 votes as of the weekend and a 4.9 out of 117 votes on the restaurantguru.com. Sure, friends and family could always contribute to a rating, but when seeing and hearing customer reactions to their meals, chances are the Kaufman’s pedigree is based more on random input than any of familiarity.

“We are a steak, pasta and burger house,” Tony said. “We do serve the best fish and shrimp in town. I’d say we serve the best shrimp this side of the Mississippi.

“We wanted the menu to have something for everyone.”

The restaurant opened in October of 2017 with Nick and his ex-wife getting it kickstarted before Tony joined forces about five months later. When Nick got things going, he took over operations of the space that had once been known as Andrea C.

“It was already a restaurant and had equipment already there,” Nick said. “Mexico has a lot of long-time businesses, including restaurants. In 2017, 10 years before that if I had told you I was going to start a restaurant in downtown Mexico, I’d expect you to pick up a brick and hit me in the head. There was nothing here. There was no scene or business or commerce or anything.

“Then the town adapted to switching from a manufacturing standpoint to a service-based economy.”

The push for more businesses in the town to collect on sales tax helped with a Kaufman-like move to make something happen.

Of course, Nick’s original idea was to name the new establishment Sips, Dips and Slides with more of a focus on sliders, bar eats, salads, dips and some appetizers.

“I wanted to start slow because I had never run a restaurant before,” Nick said. “I was talking to Tony one night and he was like, ‘what about The 581?’ He had already named it and he was a thousand miles away.”

The number represents the old Mexico prefix in the days before cellphones.
“It gave this town instant ownership and that it was their place,” Nick said. “I didn’t have to force a new name into their head. It became associated with our restaurant.”

Tony said that ironically their place is not on the radar of anyone still in Mexico.

“Everyone is welcome,” Nick said. “We have a saying that the only thing you have to be at The 581 is cool. We don’t care if you have mud on your boots or wearing a suit, we treat everyone the same.”

The menu has slowly moved to its current state and yet while developing specials like garlic parmesan shrimp that is now a signature dish, they try to keep the menu tight to focus on a small universe.

“Everything there was tested for months before it makes an appearance on a menu,” Nick said. “We slowly progressed to stay stable and not top heavy. A lot of restaurants have a huge menu and as a consumer it makes you feel they likely aren’t very good at anything. We wanted to be really good at everything on that menu.

“That’s probably a big part of our success.”

As the reputation grows with more experience – Tony had done restaurant work as a youth and Nick had various experiences in concert promotions and beverage service work – the hope is more business and volume including making The 581 a “destination business,” as people drive to Mexico to eat.
“That is something that would definitely help, and this is a validation,” Nick said. “We work crazy hard, and you have to be dedicated.

“We had to get over the ‘that’s the rich people place,’ and we want to stress we are ‘the everybody place.’ It’s nice to be recognized, but that’s also because we have great staff and great customers.”

Both men agree successes like this can only add to the positive image of Mexico commerce.

“Anything we can do for Mexico, because Mexico has been good to us,” Nick said. “If that brings more people to Mexico.”

“Anything we can do for commerce, we are up for,” Tony said.
Nick added that if it leads to other potential startups, the competition can only help the city.

“It creates an environment to work hard,” Nick said. “If we were the only restaurant in town, there are less people coming for entertainment, to eat. There are many times where people couldn’t get into our place because we were so busy, so we sent them to someone else and sometimes we have had people sent over to us.

“There is a camaraderie among the businesses here mostly. Everybody is usually great to work with.”