Honoring His Roots

With Adíos and Salud Taqueria, José Medina Camacho brings Mexico to Alabama

José Medina Camacho ensures Mexican spirits and ingredients are on display at Adíos cocktail bar and Salud Taqueria in Birmingham, Alabama.
José Medina Camacho ensures Mexican spirits and ingredients are on display at Adíos cocktail bar and Salud Taqueria in Birmingham, Alabama.

José Medina Camacho has been in and around the restaurant industry his whole life—his uncles have owned restaurants all over the Southeast U.S.—but he initially wasn’t sure it was the career path for him. The Michoacán, Mexico native has lived in Alabama since the mid-1990s and at age 16 he started working in local restaurants as a waiter’s assistant. “I hated it,” he says. Nevertheless, he continued working in the industry until he was granted DACA at 22 years old and changed course to start college. “But it only took two semesters to realize it wasn’t for me,” he says. “It was too late: I had fallen for the restaurant industry.”

He began working as a server at the Pihakis Restaurant Group-owned Mexican restaurant Little Donkey in Birmingham, Alabama in 2014. “Working for this group helped me find my true passion in the industry,” he says, noting that he originally planned to leave the company and pursue bartending elsewhere, but the management at Little Donkey gave him an opportunity behind the bar. “I told them I wanted to learn to bartend so the next day I was behind the bar learning. From then on, I started connecting with other like-minded people in the bar world and my passion just continued to grow.”

Today Medina Camacho is co-founder, operating partner, and beverage director of Adíos and Salud Taqueria, which he opened in Birmingham in 2022 and 2024, respectively, with co-founder and managing partner Jesús Méndez. Both concepts celebrate the culture and heritage of Mexico City. Adíos is an elevated cocktail bar, with a design inspired by the 1968 Olympics hosted in Mexico City and drinks ($8-$14) that showcase Mexican ingredients and spirits. Medina Camacho’s Solo En El Sur ($12) comprises watermelon-infused Altos Reposado Tequila, Cocchi Americano and Campari aperitifs, Angostura Orange bitters, and saline.

Salud is a more casual restaurant, inspired by Mexico City’s street food as well as Méndez’s family recipes, with cocktails ($8-$12) that are laid back but still elevated. “We have a Margarita menu that can make anyone and everyone a Margarita lover or just appreciate Tequila,” Medina Camacho says. His Al Pastor Margarita ($12) here features 40 Conejos mezcal and Campo Bravo Reposado Tequila, plus Ancho Reyes ancho chile liqueur, house-made pineapple and achote syrup, and lime juice.

Solo En El Sur

José Medina Camacho
Ingredients

2 ounces watermelon-infused Altos Reposado Tequila1;
¾ ounce Cocchi Americano aperitif;
¼ ounce Campari aperitif;
1 dash Angostura Orange bitters;
1 dash saline (1:10 salt to water);
Pickled watermelon cube.

Recipe

In an ice-filled cocktail shaker, combine Tequila, aperitifs, bitters, and saline. Shake and strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a pickled watermelon cube.

Al Pastor Margarita

José Medina Camacho
Ingredients

¾ ounce 40 Conejos mezcal;
¾ ounce Campo Bravo Reposado Tequila;
½ ounce Ancho Reyes ancho chile liqueur;
¾ ounce pineapple and achote syrup2;
¾ ounce lime juice;
Chamoy and Tajín, for rim.

Recipe

In an ice-filled cocktail shaker, combine mezcal, Tequila, liqueur, syrup, and lime juice. Shake and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass rimmed with chamoy and Tajín.