Anticipation builds for new tapas restaurant in Batavia

Verita, presented by Gaetano's Batavia, is located at Wilson and North River streets.

Mirus is a new tapas restaurant planned for downtown Batavia.

“Mirus is actually Latin for ‘exciting,’ ‘amazement,’ ‘fun,’ ‘strange,’” Mirus Vice President John Hamel said. “So it’s kind of a culmination of things that we expect to do with that business.”

The new restaurant is a collaboration between Hamel, who runs Bar Evolution and Pal Joey’s restaurants, and Sidecar Supper Club and Beer Garden owner Melissa Mono.

Mirus will be located at 15 E. Wilson St. in space once occupied by the Verita restaurant at the intersection of Wilson and North River streets.

“The Mirus goal is to provide small plate dining with excellent selections of wines and beer,” Hamel said. “Tapas is kind of a broad term in our definition. We are going to have influences from the Spanish tapas to South American to southern Texas to Russia. Wherever things bring us.

“It gives us an opportunity to kind of be creative on how to provide to our customers and friends at the restaurant, with the intention to bring people downtown to support the other businesses,” Hamel said.

Hamel didn’t give a specific opening date for the new restaurant, but said it would be open within the next few months.

“We’re anticipating within the next 30 to 45 days,” Hamel said. “It’s an old building that requires a little TLC. So we’re working through all of those issues and have had great work with the city.”

Verita closed in 2019, leaving the space unoccupied for nearly two years until Hamel and Mono leased the space in 2021.

“In the last two weeks as the mayor, I’ve probably been asked 15 to 20 times when are you going to open,” Batavia Mayor Jeffery Scheilke said. “So you’ve got some anticipation and some fans out there that are ready to charge the door when you let that out.”

Hamel hopes the new restaurant will attract visitors to other Batavia businesses.

“Back in college, I remember a professor talking about competition and about how people who compete without thinking about each other end up failing,” Hamel said. “Hopefully, we will bring … an experience that people will enjoy for a long time.”

Jonah Nink

Jonah Nink is a contributing reporter to Shaw Local