Pretty in Pink: A Gabriela Bucio Story
A millennial Midas brings reggaeton and Mexican regional to Sixth Street and beyond
By Christina Garcia, Fri., July 8, 2022
In the queendom of Gabriela Bucio, she reigns with a millennial Midas touch. Her buzzing, women-friendly hot spots are like the pink pre-roll cones with shiny gold tips for sale at Revival Coffee by Gabrielas: ultrafeminine and highly Instagrammable. Her restaurants, cafes, and nightclubs just keep getting more pink, too; it's Bucio's favorite color. And after an improbable rise from daytime paralegal and nighttime bartender to mogul helming a small empire, Bucio's plans for expansion are limitless.
With the música Latina curation of businesses under her Gabriela's Group umbrella, she's kind of following in her family's footsteps.
We meet on a sunny, hot Tuesday in April, in a house next door to her flagship restaurant, Gabrielas Downtown, on Seventh. She seems shy. After offering a stiff hug hello, she perches calmly amidst the detritus of restaurant storage. Her desk is pushed up to her assistant Jason Lee's.
Though reserved, Bucio is a beautiful, eternally camera-ready kind of Latina Kim Kardashian, but funnier and less dramatic. Her eyebrows are arched. Her face is smooth, and her perfect black ponytail is what some would call "snatched to the gods."
That plays well in photos and videos. Online, neon nightclub scenes alternate with eye-popping, mouthwatering detail shots of all things Gabriela's Group in her stories. If you didn't want a Bad Bunny cookie, a CBD cocktail, or a night out perreando (Spanish for "twerking") to reggaeton in the glow of pink neon before, you might after following Gabby's reality show of an internet presence.
("Perreo is like reggaeton, but you can twerk to it," she explains.)
Online, she'll lament Mondays from bed. She'll riff on the perception people may have of her as a spoiled party girl. She'll DJ. But Bucio is a bona fide businesswoman first. Instagrammed visits to new luxury shops on South Congress are just icing on the cake. Scaled in just four years, she continues growing. A "perreo-themed room" called Rosa Mami just opened upstairs at her Downtown nightclub, Mala Vida. Revival Coffee North by the Domain is under construction, and a Gabriela's in Houston is opening soon, perhaps with another nightclub to follow. Creating entire music festivals may not be far behind. "It's a lot of work, but we're in the talks," she says. The woman has found her niche.
"I'm the opposite of gentrification," she reflects, adding: "Latinos needed a place to see themselves celebrated. Other people might try to do the same thing, but you can tell when it's not genuine. Like when it's not a Latino-owned bar and they're just throwing a Latin night."
She seems relaxed for running so many businesses. But in truth, her entire family is involved. Her brother Arturo, the middle child, manages band booking. Her youngest brother, Chava, manages the restaurants. Her mother, Maria Elena, helps with food. Gabby's role extends as needed. But Bucio calls all these businesses her own, seemingly unfazed by the responsibility.
"I hide it well," she answers. She'll tell me how she unwinds later.
La Más Querida
"You must be a beast at raising funds," I say.
"No loans. No investors," she replies. On the contrary, though she's self-financed, she points out that instead of collecting houses and cars, "I don't live differently than I did a few years ago."
A few years ago, she was managing the bar and social media for another local restaurant, Tres Amigos. Today, Bucio and a small team of designers and videographers manage bilingual social media accounts speaking directly to her followers. The target audience is "Mexillennials." Like a fairy godmother who makes your life better with Mexican food and reggaeton, ping her to ask where she is, and she might materialize.
Plus, online promotion is a cakewalk compared to "the ancient ways of marketing," she says. That is, handing out fliers in person, a task Bucio worked at as a teenager helping her uncle promote local events in Austin, though she politely declines to name the uncle or his promotion company.
Gabby's brother Arturo later reveals, "[Our uncle] was a big promoter back in the day. He would always take us to shows and book bands himself. That's how we also know so many people and it's easy for us to bring bigger artists to our venues."
That uncle still throws events in Mexico and in border towns near the Valley, where Gabby and Arturo grew up, says Arturo.
Though success booking bands across clubs and restaurants flies somewhat under the radar in Austin media, it spurs Gabriela's Group. Their live music calendar is packed.
"It's crazy to me that in the history of Sixth Street, there wasn't a club that played Mexican regional music," says Gabby. "We try to book what the people want."
Live bands, who perform across not just the Mala Vida and Mala Santa nightclubs, but at Seareinas and Gabriela's, are all from the Mexican regional music genre, an umbrella term for cumbia, mariachi, Norteño, banda, corrido, and more, Gabby explains. Gabriela's Group even booked Luis R Conriquez before he filled stadiums.
"My background with the music and my preference really comes from where we were born – Michoacán," says Arturo, also later. "It's called 'Tierra Caliente' and it literally translates into 'hot dirt,' because it's so hot. But the genre of music over there is not Tierra Caliente music. It's banda. We grew up with our parents taking us to all these shows. It's music we enjoyed and we wanted to do it when we had our own businesses."
Bandas use traditional Mexican folk styles, like polkas and waltzes, with heavy brass and percussion.
Arturo's hand-selected live band, Banda la Más Querida, plays exclusively at Seareinas four nights a week. At Gabrielas South, various bandas play Refuego Thursdays staged near an alcove wallpapered in a pattern of Bad Bunny's face surrounding something like a narcos throne near pallets of fake cash. A roaming group of mariachis in traditional embroidered suits first play for diners who holler and sing along over their massive mangonadas and pineapple-held cocktails.
Gabby's excitement ticks up as she mentions corridos verdes, a Mexican regional style extolling marijuana use. Legado 7, a corridos verdes group whose popularity was bolstered by Snoop Dogg's seal of approval, performed Mala Santa in May. Corridos verdes is clearly a genre Gabby enjoys, though she shines her musical talents on the DJ side of the spectrum.
The now-shuttered Kingdom, Lanai, and Ethics nightclubs, mainstays of Austin's house music scene in pre-pandemic times, were some of her favorite old venues, and though she is a self-declared music junkie with love for all genres, Bucio books and plays reggaeton like it's going out of style. DJ'ing, something she's done for the last six years (publicly for three, she clarifies), is how she says she unwinds.
"It's what I do to de-stress, or decompress," she says. "Sometimes I need just quick mental break. And that's when I'll go and DJ for 10, 15, 30 minutes."
DJ Cortez, a selector who started working for Bucio back when Gabriela's first opened, helps with booking, but Gabby "hand-selects every DJ who plays."
"Other people will book you and micromanage you," DJ Cortez will say later, at a Latin gay night at Mala Vida. "People used to say I played too much reggaeton. Now it's not too much hip-hop, too much reggaeton, too much cumbia anymore."
Her assistant, Jason, sits through the interview with chrome nails and an air of aloof high fashion, which Bucio showcases in funny Instagram stories and TikToks using the captions "The Life of Jason" and "Balenciaga Baby" as his chosen sobriquet. Sometimes he tags along with her to buy the new Gucci/Adidas swag, gazing stoically as a glamorous Bucio smiles and offers gently ribbing commentary like, "Why is Jason wearing black daddy booty shorts today?" He also helps advertise the gay nights. Bucio herself loves playing at Cheer Up Charlies and Barbarella in addition to her own venues.
The LGBTQIA family is welcomed at Gabriela's Group with lots of visibility on social media, trans employees in person, and drag shows and Latino gay nights at the clubs and restaurants. "What would you say to conservative Latinos who might think you're being too inclusive for their taste?" I ask.
"I wouldn't listen," she replies simply.
In reality, she tells the critics to shut their mouth and mind their business on social media. "Think twice before you open your mouth about things that aren't your business," she writes online for a post promoting one of her Latin gay nights. She's quoting "Cada Quien" by Mexican banda stars Grupo Firme and Colombian reggaetonero Maluma.
"Have you ever been to La Cruda?" Bucio asks me at the end of our meeting, referring to her Sunday night party at Mala Vida with free tacos and free hot Cheetos. Ulovei spins from 6 to 10pm, and she enjoys having him on the floor "so people can hang out with him." It's a successful night for Mala Vida.
"Politicians have started to show up," she says, referencing East Austin activist and City Council candidate Bertha Rendon Delgado. "Beto has expressed interest in going," she adds.
Rosa Mami
Suspended outside a turn-of-the-century building at 708 E. Sixth, a hot-pink neon arrow points to the second floor at Mala Vida. Waller Creek runs clear, flanked by deep green, broad-leafed elephant ears rustling in the spring winds to the west, while I-35 speeds by to the east. Three security guards at the door – standard at nightclubs and some restaurants owned by Gabriela's Group – cut an image of Mexican state control even without machine guns. Men submit to pat downs, and women hold their purses open for inspection.
Upstairs, I sit with Gabby in a neon cloud of reggaeton references and tropical plants. A Gabriela's Group room by any other name might be called "immersive."
Gabby has already set up a Serato controller for her set, and three DJs are playing in separate rooms in the club. Her favorites include a roster of people she regularly books: All Day Ray, DJ Cortez, La Moon, DJ KickIt, DJ Spicy, and Ulovei. Ulovei, a 15-year veteran of the Austin DJ scene, tells me Gabby has given lots of upcoming DJs the opportunity and venues to play.
A lot of DJs take themselves very seriously, but I get a lighter vibe from her, I say.
"I take myself very seriously." she answers. "I'm not gonna halfass anything. If I'm gonna DJ, I'm gonna be the best DJ. And I play with the best, so I have to bring it." That's not so much about technical skills like beatmatching, which she says is not hard, but how you make the crowd feel with your music and your vibe.
"I'll play what I like at the time, but it will always be heavy on reggaeton and cumbia," she says. "I'm a Texan and I'll play whatever is cool here in Texas: Megan Thee Stallion, Beyoncé, Selena." You'll also hear hip-hop, pop, bachata, merengue, and salsa at her clubs or in her sets.
I switch gears to bring up an Instagram story she posted the night before. In the story, she tells the camera how she's out and ready to work despite her already exhausting day "por que el dinero no se lava solo, como dicen los haters." Translation: "Because the money won't launder itself, as her haters say."
How does that perception make you feel?
"It comes from ignorance," she replies sharply. "It's hard for other Latinos to understand that Latinos can also make it. Yes, a lot of people wonder, 'Why does she have so many businesses?' If they would just nicely ask me, I would love to help them or talk to them. But it's a very small percentage of people that think that. But they would never think that of any other male, white-owned business. They would never say, 'Why are there so many Chuy's?' They would never say that about a white male but they would say it about us." (She's referring to Mexican women.)
"Yeah, but it doesn't bother me. I play along," she continues. "You guys think I'm such a badass but I'm just here DJ'ing. I'm literally here working 24/7."
As if on cue, a potted tropical plant falls over, spilling dirt all over the floor. We upright it, but it falls twice more. "It's OK. I have to take it home," she says. It will reappear weighted down with rocks when I visit next.
We review the many businesses she owns one last time and she adds a new one to the list. It's a construction company called Horchata. It's named after a white dog she found during the electrical outages of the 2021 winter storm, she says, laughing. The company was formed to keep up with her busy pace.
Bucio then shows me cellphone mock-ups for the neons and art walls inside Rosa Mami, which she designs herself. One wall says, "Talk your shit." Another, "Please don't do coke here," with illustrations of smiling keys and baggies. The neons are phrases from popular reggaeton songs.
As Gabby explains, a young man approaches. "Hey, Gabby! I fucking love you. It's my birthday weekend, bitch. I'mma turn up!" Gabby promises him shots.
"I did not pay him to come say that," she laughs.
On the decks at Rosa Mami, Gabby unleashes mash-ups and mostly reggaeton, with a bit of cumbia as her dance floor fills up. She smiles and takes requests, though she's not immune from feeling peeved at receiving them, as many DJs are. She spoofs the request on Instagram later by holding her phone up at the crowd the way someone requesting a song did to her. On Instagram her phone tells the requester to, "Wear deodorant." In person, she's polite.
After an hour, Bucio is back on the floor, surveying the outside patio where Danny Ritmo plays on a stage often set up for two or more DJs, with a huge video screen behind him. Young couples dance cumbia. Ulovei is playing Intocable's mid-Nineties Tejano hit "¿Y Todo Para Qué?" at midnight inside, while outside, a long line forms over Waller Creek as people wait for their turn to get into the perreo club.
When I see her again at Mala Vida's Latin gay night, Bucio will quietly check on everyone around her to make sure they're OK, asking them if they need anything. A drink? She remarks that it's tough hiding from everyone who wants to do shots with you, and then heads a bit farther from the stage, where she blends in with the crowd.
"The community's really welcoming. They're super nice. That's why I'm always here," says Gabby.
Gabriela's Group Music Rundown
Banda and Corridos: Seareinas (6607 N. I-35) has music events seven days a week, including a drag show on Mondays.
The Flagship: Gabriela's Downtown (900 E. Seventh) features DJs five nights a week.
Refuego Thursdays: Gabrielas South (9600 S. I-35) has live music every Thursday night.
Cumbia and Tierra Caliente: Mala Santa (8509 Burleson) hosts concerts at least twice a week.
Reggaeton DJs and Banda: Mala Vida (708 E. Sixth) hosts DJs Thursday through Sunday.
Immersive Cafe: Revival Coffee (1405 E. Seventh) holds occasional live events.
Pink Tacos: Taquero Mucho (508 West Ave.) has DJs spinning five nights a week.
