- July 12, 2025
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Mathew Baum, president of Wolverine Management, has devised a plethora of business plans while majoring in business at the University of Kentucky and throughout his career.
Not many came to fruition.
But 17 years ago, he created a business plan for a Mexican restaurant. He rediscovered the business plan about 10 years ago while moving files off an old computer and decided it was time to start conceptualizing it.
Baum was proud to see this business plan worked out not only once but four times as he stood inside the newest Agave Bandido, which opened Monday, June 9, in Hamlin.
Agave Bandido is a Mexican-inspired restaurant and tequila bar with a high-energy atmosphere and over-the-top décor to match.
The Hamlin restaurant is the company’s largest location to date, with 11,000 square feet between the restaurant and patio space.
The artistic flair of the restaurant can be seen from the streets as Baum recruited Miami artist Ruben Ubiera to spray-paint murals throughout the inside and outside the restaurant and bar.
Baum said Wolverine Management purposefully chooses suburban areas such as Horizon West to construct its restaurants. He said often there are big, corporate restaurant chains found in the area, and his goal is to have Wolverine Management restaurants be the “one-off type place you’re going to find in a downtown area without having to travel downtown.”
“Our goal as well is to go to those suburb areas and provide the population that I think really wants that one-off, downtown vibe, that type of restaurant,” he said.
Baum said Horizon West is a booming area along State Road 429 with easy access to surrounding areas such as Windermere, Kissimmee and Clermont making it a good centralized location.
What surprised Baum and Matthew Faul, chief operating officer of Wolverine Management, was the quantity of qualified and talented hospitality individuals who attended their job fair.
“The quality of people (who) came out was exceptional and by far, the best we’ve had in any job market,” Baum said.
Baum said more importantly, the quality food and drinks available at the restaurant matches the talent of the people serving it.
Baum said he and his team pride themselves on the Mexican food offered, but where they “overly stand out” is in the bar program and cocktails because of the sheer number of tequilas and mezcals as well as different types of spirits and more.
Hidden away is the Maya, a speak-tiki bar that requires separate reservations. The speak-tiki is named after Mayahuel, the goddess of the agave plant, from which tequila is made. The bar also features a separate drink menu consisting of more tiki-based drinks, Baum said.
Unique to the Hamlin location is a private dining room that is a more intimate space for a business meeting or small event or to watch a sporting game. There is a TV that can be hidden by a panel on the rose-filled wall that is decorated to look like an ofrenda, a traditional altar built to honor and remember deceased loved ones.
With the Hamlin location having a larger footprint than the other Agave Bandido locations, Baum said the private dining room was an opportunity to make the Hamlin location unique. Wolverine Management works to have a unique aspect of every restaurant so people can find something different at each Agave Bandido location, Baum said.
Also unique to the Hamlin location are additions to the food and drink menus. Baum said if they are enjoyed as much as expected, they will be added to the menus at the other Agave Bandido locations.
A new addition to the menu is the Mexican Smash Burger, which is two smash burger patties with guacamole, fried jalapeño slices and pico de gallo with the option of adding chipotle queso. It comes with a side of tajin fries.
The menu also includes new certified Angus Beef steak options, including a bone-in ribeye and a New York strip served with tajin butter, yuca fries and mixed vegetables.
“We noticed a lot of suburban areas don’t have steakhouses,” Baum said. “If you want a really good steak, there’s great options at some of these other restaurants but nothing more premium in terms of proteins like that. So we thought with us being an elevated brand, an elevated look, then that would be a cool offering that we could bring as well.”
New to the drink menu is the Skinny Señorita, which is made through a partnership with Clase Azul tequila.
Baum founded Wolverine Management and started the Brass Tap franchise at 27 years old. He went on to open three more Brass Tap restaurants, taking in all he could about the restaurant industry.
Throughout the past 14 years, Baum has become a husband and father. As consumers looking for entertainment and dining in the suburbs, his family and friends always have been thinking about what’s missing.
“What can we start to create in restaurants that could be in these areas that are underserved, just as a consumer,” he said. “That’s when we started seeing concepts (such as) Rocco’s Tacos and El Camino in South Florida and other high-energy restaurants. We thought, ‘Man, those are pretty cool. If we could take a few things from one and a few things from another in terms of how they serve food but still have high energy and over-the-top décor and quality service and bring that to the suburbs, that would be cool.’”
Agave Bandido was designed to be over the top with skull chandeliers and a Day of the Dead theme.
Almost all of the specialty light fixtures were imported from Mexico.
Wolverine Management worked with Ubiera as well as interior designer Pam Manhas and Sabal Design owner Ben Carey, who crafted all the wooden bar tops by hand.
