The Legend of Raffe – 15 Years of Cantina Agave

By Ned Kelly, November 8, 2023

Raffe (AKA Wolf) is the legend behind Shanghai institution Cantina Agave, which has stood loud and proud on the Fumin Lu-Changle Lu corner since 2008.

That is 15 years of revelry – as of this very weekend – which can mean only one thing: a big ol' fiesta and river of tequila.

We sat down with one of Shanghai F&B's super survivors to hear tales of burrito brunches and tequila sunrises...

Let's start at the beginning – what first brought you to Shanghai?
My background is actually designing and manufacturing clothing for OEM and also my own brands in the past, which is what brought me to China for the first time in 1995. I used to travel here every eight weeks and stay a minimum of two weeks and did that for years.

I noticed while traveling here the one food I couldn’t get was a taco, or burrito, or have a few shots of tequila and, being from Los Angeles, it is part of my comfort food.

So, in 2007, I decided to move here permanently and see if I could open a small taco joint while still doing my clothing business.

A newly opened Cantina Agave back in 2008

Inside the newly opened Cantina Agave back in 2008

The bar of the newly opened Cantina Agave back in 2008

Raffe with his mom outside the newly opened Cantina Agave back in 2008

Tell us about the early years – how did it all start out?
We opened in November 2008 on Fumin Lu, which is where we still are today.

It was a crazy start as I had zero F&B experience, so I was super nervous. But by week three we kind of blew up and got crazy busy; you couldn’t get a table even on a Monday night without a four- to five-day reservation.

It was kind of overwhelming.

For those (few) people still not acquainted with Cantina Agave, give us the three sentence 'elevator pitch.'
Great Cali Mex and a bit of Tex Mex that hits home while living abroad. It’s a comfortable place to hang out with friends and chill while having lunch/dinner and drinks. Tacos, burritos and great cocktails.

You have become a verified Shanghai institution on the heaving Fumin Lu-Changle Lu corner – when you chose the location all those years ago, did you realize that corner would become the spot?
So, when I chose that location, everyone I knew at the time thought I was crazy for wanting to open there, as back then it was considered a very quiet neighborhood with no restaurants nor bars around the area, save one or two.

But I really liked it, especially the outside terrace area – but back then China didn’t really grasp the idea of outside seating, so it took four months to have the landlord agree for us to use the outside area.

During those four months, I can’t count how many times I went back and forth with the real estate agent who was in charge of the Fumin building, and when I finally signed 15 years ago, we went out to dinner to celebrate... and now she is my wife and the mother of our two kids.

So she actually opened Cantina with me from the beginning.

Early days on the Cantina Agave terrace

Al fresco drinking on the Cantina Agave terrace

Fifteen years is a fine innings in Shanghai – what is the secret to your success?
Keep the value up and give customers a bang for their buck. Keep the quality up while always changing the menu and not being complacent.

Any wild stories from over the years?
Obviously there are some that I just can’t say. But here we go anyway...

We have had people having full-on sex at the table at a Sunday brunch.

Had people too drunk to get up from the table outside to walk to the bathroom so decided to just pee at the table, fully clothed.

Our tree outside used to have lower branches, but I had to get the management to cut them as people used to try and climb it... and always fell.

Had to throw out two girls for literally hitting on every guy that walked in, even if they had their wife or girlfriend with them (and when I say hitting on them, I’m being kind).

Basically, whatever you can think of happening in a 15-year-old bar has happened.

One of many nights of revelry on the Fumin Lu-Changle Lu corner

Yup, another one

And another!

Cantina Agave terrace patrons

And any non-wild-but-still-interesting stories?
I think the most famous one was in the early years. We had a group of around 10 people come in late on a Sunday night and, when they left, they stole a bottle that was sitting on the shelf. But those bottles weren’t for sale and only for show.

When I came in on Monday morning, I noticed the missing bottle and checked the cameras and saw them take it. It was a very rare bottle of Grand Marnier, so I called Grand Marnier, and the brand ambassador came and right away said, "Oh no, they took the rarest one I had on the shelf."

So I sent the videos to everyone I knew in the media, and at that time there was no WeChat so it was online or print. Since we were popular back then and a hangout place, everyone started sending the faces of the people out trying to find out who they were, and I also went to the police with the video.

Less than 24 hours later, we knew who they were, and they chose to send one of the girls back to the shop with the bottle. They were very lucky that they hadn’t open the bottle.

Also, I had to go to the police department to have them drop the case, which isn’t easy as once a case is opened it’s not easy to drop.

Anyway, Grand Marnier loved me as they got a bunch of free publicity from around the world and were getting a crazy number of calls for the same bottle that got stolen.

Cantina Agave as it looks today

Cantina Agave – still going strong 15 years on

Tell us about your range of tequilas and winning ‘Award T’ recognition.
When we opened, I think I had like 150 different kinds of tequila, which was insane as tequila was not a big thing in China. I can say Cantina was the first actual tequila bar in China in 2008.

I would always try back then to educate customers about tequila, but most were hesitant, as tequila had a bad name and was always associated with hangovers and getting sick, and most people had never really had good tequila.

In 2009, the CRT (Consejo Regulador del Tequila – tequila regulatory council) heard about what we were doing, and decided to fly out to Shanghai from Mexico and award Cantina the 'Award T,' which is basically an award for educating the public about tequila and keeping the culture and quality of tequila.

We were only the second ever to receive the award in Asia, and the first in China – and to my knowledge no one has received it since.

Raffe in front of just some of his prized tequila collection

What changes have you seen to the Shanghai F&B scene over the years?
Wow, this could take a long time to explain. Back in the day, there would be a ton of places opening and closing, but these days I rarely see anyone brand new opening; instead, it’s people that already have places and are expanding or have closed one place and are opening another.

F&B these days is very unpredictable, and not really an investment a lot of people are willing to make; before people would open up any type of places, and some were super cool, but these days it’s a bit more constricted.

And I see more bars opening up more than restaurants.

Party time at Cantina Agave

An impromptu dance floor in full effect

Raffe shaking his funky stuff with some satisfied customers

More terrace good times

Put the tequila in the coconut and drink it all up?

The next generation of Cantina customers

Finally, what can people expect from this weekend’s festivities?
Honestly, just a lot of fun and reminiscing about the old days. Seeing a bunch of old friends and hopefully making new ones. Music food and drinks. Just celebrating 15 roller coaster years.