Joe Kidd Cantina, a new Western-themed bar and restaurant serving southwestern and Mexican food, opened its doors on Friday, November 6. It’s in a space plenty of locals know well.
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The cantina is at 250 West 72nd Street, between Broadway and West End Avenue, where Emerald Inn used to be. The Irish pub first opened in 1943 on Columbus Avenue at West 69th Street and moved to West 72nd Street in 2013. Third-generation owner Charlie Campbell closed it after 82 years on December 3, 2025, after falling behind on rent and taxes as sales dropped.Colum Flattery, who opened Joe Kidd Cantina with partners Pat Fitzpatrick and Joseph Hollywood, tells us the name comes from “Joe Kidd,” the 1972 Clint Eastwood Western. Upper West Siders may know Flattery from The Avenue, the bar and kitchen at Amsterdam Avenue and West 83rd Street where he was an owner, tended bar and developed much of the menu. It opened in May 2023, but The Avenue closed in August 2024.
The menu at Joe Kidd Cantina has six wing flavors, including tequila lime, Cajun and a Flattery’s sauce that’s Colum’s own. Other starters include quesa-birria with consommé for dipping, El Paso duck rolls and a steak plate with chimichurri. Tacos are $7 to $8 each, with fillings like birria, pastor and portobello.
Entrées include burgers from $15 to $24, a 12-ounce ribeye for $34, fajitas and a birria short rib pie. The most expensive item is a $36 surf ‘n’ turf that pairs an 8-ounce ribeye with shrimp in garlic white wine sauce. For dessert there are churros, pecan pie and tres leches cake. Customers who pay cash get 10% off.
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Regarding the bar’s theme and menu, Flattery tells us he lived in California for five years and fell in love with Mexican food and culture, and that his partner Joseph grew up out west as well.Joe Kidd Cantina is open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight, and they’re currently offering an all-day happy hour with $8 mixed drinks, $8 house wines, $6 beers and more.
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