METUCHEN, N.J. (PIX11) - When a trendy Mexican kitchen and tequila bar opened, its owners had one goal: go big or go home.
"I had this vision many years ago," said Meximodo President and CEO Saurabh Abrol.
The moment you walk inside the Metuchen restaurant, your eyes are met by not a shelf, nor a wall but a library of tequilas, mezcals and more.
It's a collection that's good enough for the Guinness Book of World Records, as Meximodo officially holds the title for most varieties of agave spirits commercially available in a bar-restaurant in the world.
"Absolutely ecstatic," said Abrol. "It hasn't sunk in yet."
The collection is not merely aesthetic or a gimmick; these are all real, and customers can order every one of these spirits—all 1,033 of them.
"Every bottle here is a unique expression of a major brand, a small brand, small distillate, but every bottle is unique," said TJ Pingitore, senior vice president of Lemalt Hospitality Group. "We have all of the brands that you would know and love. We also have a lot of what you would call single batch."
Their selection includes tequilas you don't see every day and special editions. Some bottles cost as much as $3,000.
Meximodo came to Metuchen in November, and after the borough garnered national attention for its American Girl doll and Great American Main Street award, Meximodo wanted to keep Metuchen on the map.
"We wanted to amplify right along with them our concept, and what better way to do that than break a Guiness Book of World Record for most agave spirits out of 1.1 million bars in the entire world?" said Pingitore.