Cantina Lobos, a staple of the Pelham’s restaurant scene for almost a decade, has a new owner, Rob Gorsline.

Gorsline, former owner of Tequila Sunrise in Larchmont, is no carpetbagger. He’s a PMHS grad and village resident who’s committed to keeping Cantina Lobos what it is, a Mexican restaurant, while adding some strategic upgrades here and there.

Gorsline graduated from PMHS in 2001 and earned a degree in business management in 2005 at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.  Wanting to scratch an entrepreneurial itch, Gorsline and sister and brother-in-law bought Tequila Sunrise. He eventually bought them out, but after 20 years, he was ready to move on. “After COVID, the whole dynamic changed,” Gorsline said. “It was a very large restaurant–200 seats–and the overhead just got to be too much. It started to feel like it wasn’t worth it anymore.”

At the same time, Clayton Bushong, who Gorslin had known from the neighborhood, mentioned that he was thinking of selling Cantina Lobos, the restaurant he launched in 2016.

“At first I said no because I still had Tequila Sunrise and didn’t want a second place,” Gorsline said. “But once I knew I was moving on from there, I thought about it more. I talked it over with my wife. She was super supportive and we decided to go for it.” After months of negotiating prices, completing paperwork, and acquiring proper permits, the deal closed on November 1.

While Gorsline is keeping the intimate feel of Cantina Lobos and maintain its Mexican fare, he is looking to make some improvements.  He has upgraded the margaritas, using fresh ingredients and fruit in place of premixes.  He is looking to bring nachos, a fan-favorite at Tequila Sunrise, to Cantina Lobos, as well as “quesados,” a variation of quesadillas. “Here we can focus on freshness. It’s exciting to finally do things I couldn’t do in a huge restaurant,” Gorsline said.

After the new year, Gorsline is looking to make renovations- adding more chairs and tables and rearranging the restaurant layout. Additionally, he wants to add live music, movies, and more in the park across from Cantina for the summer.

“Little things like that help make Pelham more of a destination. New restaurants are opening too,” Gorsline said. “It’s nice to see more variety- Pelham hasn’t really had that compared to places like Larchmont. The more we bring people into town, the more everyone benefits- restaurants, shops, the movie theater, everything.”

Outside of managing Cantina Lobos, Gorsline enjoys life in Pelham. After living in Manhattan for 13 years, he moved back to Pelham with his wife in 2014. He has two daughters, a four-year-old and an eight-year-old at Colonial. In his free time, he enjoys coaching their Pelham Rec soccer teams and going to concerts and Yankees games. He invites everyone in Pelham to stop by and enjoy the new Cantina Lobos.