Jesse Morreale doesn't like empty tables, and there were too many at Sketch Food & Wine, the well-reviewed Cherry Creek restaurant he closed in July after 17 months.

In its place, Morreale, Chef Sean Yontz and two other business partners will open Tambien, 250 Steele St., on Friday. It's a more casual eatery, focusing on the successful Mexican food and tequila bar format that has worked well for them at Mezcal, on East Colfax Avenue.

"The concept for Sketch was good, but the impression and the atmosphere we tried to create - of being fun and kitschy - may have been misread as high-end," Morreale explained. That made it too similar to many other Cherry Creek restaurants.

Tambien will be a neighborhood place with lower prices (most entrees under $13), happy hours, late-night $1 tacos and more than 200 kinds of tequila. The 4,000-square-foot, garden-level spot will have seating for 100 diners, plus the bar and patio.

"We looked at the trends in the neighborhood. What was succeeding were the accessible, the casual places, not high-end," said Morreale, whose company, M Inc., is also a partner in Mezcal and Rockbar, both on Colfax Avenue, and La Rumba.

"Even if you make a lot of money, it doesn't mean you want to get dressed up every night," he added. "We want people to come more than once a week."

"There are very few inexpensive restaurants in Cherry Creek North," said Wayne New, president of the Cherry Creek North Neighborhood Association.

People choose to live near Cherry Creek because it is so easy to walk there, he added. Most will try a new restaurant, but service and quality will bring them back.

Morreale didn't want to say how much it cost to open Sketch, but with a five-year lease on the space, it made sense to find another concept that works.

With the closing of El Toro Palomo, Tambien will be one of the only Mexican food restaurants in Cherry Creek, Tula and Chez Jose being two others.

Mexican food is a concept Morreale and his partners are familiar with from Mezcal, but they will add menu items like salads and more upscale dinner selections that fit the Cherry Creek neighborhood better than they would at Mezcal.

Tambien will be open for lunch and dinner, plus late-night hours.

Shopping and eating

47 percent of Cherry Creek North residents surveyed said they visit a store or restaurant every day. Proximity to restaurants was the number one reason for wanting to live there.

Source: Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District