Ignacio "Nacho" Jimenez

Coming Up

New York bar service is the through-line in Ignacio "Nacho" Jimenez’s work: a sequence of rooms that sharpened pace, control, and feel for the floor. At Gabriela's in Upper West Side, New York City, then at Madam Geneva in New York City, and later at Saxon + Parole in New York City, he worked as bartender while building the fundamentals that hold a shift together—reading guests, managing tempo, and keeping service clean under pressure. The next step was bar-program leadership, first at The Daily in Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood, New York City, where he oversaw the bar program, and then at Ghost Donkey in East Village, New York City, where he lead the bar program. Those roles moved the work from execution to authorship: not just pouring drinks, but setting the structure, rhythm and identity of the room. Since 2023, Ignacio is co-owner of Superbueno, bringing those earlier registers into a single operation.

Where They Are Now

At Superbueno (since 2023), Ignacio "Nacho" Jimenez works in a format where service and operations are tied to the same standard. The bar is the clearest expression of that approach: a place where the practical demands of running a room and the social work of welcoming people stay in balance. The drinks menu leans into Mexican flavors including mezcal, guajillo chiles and xocolatl bitters, using smoke, heat and depth as part of the house language. Large-format drinks such as the house tepache widen the service model beyond single-serve orders, giving the bar a more communal pace. The result is a menu built for movement across the room, not just for isolated tickets. Community-centered service is the specialty there, and Ignacio states it plainly: “To serve is an act of kindness.....To have the opportunity to give that act of kindness day in and day out is my greatest joy.” The line frames hospitality as repeatable labor, not performance.

Signature

Ignacio's signature cocktails include vodka y soda, Green Mango Martini, Mezcal Sun-Risa, Highland Picnic, and Batanga. Taken together, they hint at range rather than repetition: familiar forms and more expressive combinations, each one part of the same evolving style.

In Their Words “To serve is an act of kindness.....To have the opportunity to give that act of kindness day in and day out is my greatest joy.”

Honors

Ignacio's honors include James Beard Award for Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service (2025).