Tulum-focused restaurant Lúm to open in Midtown East in 2023

Three other restaurants opened this month in the city focused on Tulum, a town on Yucatán peninsula. Ixta opened in the Bowery, Casa Tulum set up shop at the South Street Seaport and the aforementioned Tán debuted in Midtown East.

Sandoval said Tulum’s popularity as a vacation spot during the Covid-19 pandemic inspired the recent flurry of Tulum-focused openings in the city.

“During Covid a lot of New Yorkers spent time in Tulum,” he said. ”There’s a big connection there. Tulum is obviously very warm and sexy. We’ve transported that experience to New York.”

Sandoval is a New York hospitality veteran who operates other Mexican restaurants including the Upper East Side’s Maya, Upper Manhattan’s Jalao and Tán. He also operates eateries in California and Illinois, as well as in Greece, Mexico and Qatar.

New York, he said, has one of the strongest food scenes in the world.

“There are challenges with being in Midtown,” he said. “The density of people isn’t there with the new work week and some people working from home. But New York is one of the most dynamic culinary cities in the world.”