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The cousins behind The Imperial Tandoor took on a second Peterborough restaurant on George Street North — this time a modern Mexican kitchen and tequila bar, with a name that carries the family's first business forward into a second cuisine. Agave by Imperial sits in downtown Peterborough as a full-service dining room and bar, built around traditional Mexican recipes treated with contemporary technique and a colorful, plated presentation. The kitchen is more ambitious than the strip's casual cantinas, and the bar reads as the central program rather than the supporting cast.
Order strategy for a first visit is straightforward. The Queso Birria Tacos lead the current menu — braised lamb folded with cheese, pickled onions, cilantro, lime, salsa habanero, and a consomme for dipping. The Molcajete de Carnes is the table's sharing move: grilled chorizo, seared beef, grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, cheese, jalapenos, three tortillas, and salsa agave, served in the volcanic-stone bowl the dish takes its name from. Watermelon Ceviche cuts a different note — watermelon with cucumber, cherry tomato, onion, habanero, avocado, and a tostada for crunch. Mexican Street Corn, Guacamole & Chips, and Crispy Coliflor Tacos fill out the antojitos and shareables, and Crispy Fish Tacos sit alongside the chorizo-and-cheese classic on the taco list. Dessert holds at Churros and Tres Leches Cake.
The bar leads. Margaritas come classic, spicy mango, coconut chile, blood orange, and paloma, with flight options that let a table compare. The tequila and mezcal lists run long enough to support a Tuesday built around half-price pours, and the cocktail menu reaches past margaritas into a broader agave-spirit conversation. House margaritas anchor the happy-hour offer, and beer and wine round out the bar surfaces alongside a seasonal cocktail card that the kitchen refreshes for summer.
House programming holds the week together. Twice-Daily Happy Hour runs every day from three to five and again from nine to close, with tacos, shareables, beer, wine, margaritas, and half-price tequila pours all in play during those windows. Tequila Tuesdays bracket the week early — half-price pours from noon to ten — and All-You-Can-Eat Taco Thursdays bracket it on the other side, with rotating proteins, house salsas, and classic toppings starting around thirty-two dollars per person. Larger groups can order Taco-Fest party platters for catering or in-restaurant use, and the kitchen runs late on Friday and Saturday until one in the morning.
Cousins Jim Grover and Manish Choudhry, by the family's account and local coverage, opened The Imperial Tandoor in Peterborough in 2017 and took the storefront on George Street North — the former Fusion Bowl address — for Agave by Imperial in late 2022. The decision to follow an Indian restaurant with a Mexican one is the cousins' own, and the menu carries one quiet acknowledgment of the lineage in the Butter Chicken Burrito on the wraps section. Local recognition has accrued in small increments since: the kitchen took the Top Chocolatier title at Downtown Peterborough's second Hot Chocolate Fest in 2024 for its Chocolate Champurrado, and has been recognized at the festival again in the years that followed.
The downtown setting does most of the social work the kitchen doesn't have to carry. George Street North sits at the centre of Peterborough's late-night strip, and Agave's twice-daily happy hour, weekend service to one in the morning, group-platter ordering, and weekly programming all point at the same kind of visit — a meeting place for a table that wants a longer evening than a quick weeknight dinner. On a Friday night, the dining room reads loud, bright, and family-run, and the bar keeps moving past last call at the cantinas down the strip. The back half of the menu — antojitos, shareables, and the agave-spirit list — is what keeps a four-top in chairs through second-half happy hour.
Agave has current official evidence for birria tacos, molcajetes, ceviche, tacos, churros, margaritas, and other Mexican menu anchors in downtown Peterborough.
The ownership story links Agave to Jim Grover, Manish Choudhry, and the Imperial Tandoor team, giving the restaurant a local family-run identity rather than a chain signal.
Daily happy hour, Tequila Tuesdays, and all-you-can-eat Taco Thursdays give diners concrete timing reasons to choose Agave for repeat visits.
This is Restaurantica’s own read — synthesized from publicly available sources across diner signal and editorial research, last updated June 2026. It’s our interpretation of the evidence, not a crowd average — and placement is never for sale.
A cocktail-friendly Mexican room with birria tacos, margaritas, happy hour, and late service windows that fit downtown social plans.
Mexican dishes, local ownership context, and community coverage make Agave a clear cultural dining pick downtown.
Molcajete, shared starters, taco orders, and weekly specials give groups several easy ways to build a meal together.
A lively room, margaritas, and centerpiece dishes such as Molcajete de Carnes make Agave useful for casual celebrations.
Daily happy hour and recurring tequila and taco specials give value-minded diners clear windows for a lower-cost visit.
Restaurantica’s write-up above is synthesized from broad public signal — community reviews add the first-person layer. Share the nuances of your visit to Agave by Imperial in Peterborough: the standout dishes, the room, the service.
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