Maradentro, the seafood-focused Mexican food concept from Cocinas y Calaveras, Inc., arrived in Studio City in early 2015. Partners Jesse Gomez and chef/partner Jose Acevedo replaced a shorter-lived Mexican restaurant from Jeffrey Saad called La Ventura. Now Jesse is applying lessons learned and plans to introduce a new concept, likely called Mercado Taqueria, to fill the Maradentro space.

Jesse says, “We decided after a little more than a year and a half of not making money or even being close to breaking even at this location to start over again. I think we made a few mistakes when we originally opened that we could not recover from. We opened with a menu that did not allow modifications and with a menu that was almost 85% seafood.” In response, expect a streamlined but full-service taqueria with a bar.

Jesse and Jose plan to remodel the restaurant and bump up the size of the bar, which will hopefully fit better with other successful concepts in the area: bars with food. They’re looking to reopen as Mercado Taqueria in April or May. A second Maradentro continues operation in Brentwood.

11929 Ventura Blvd., Studio City