La Pulga Spirits founder and managing partner Andrew De La Torre may have grown up in Arlington, but Fort Worth captured him when he arrived at TCU.
“I’ll never leave Fort Worth,” he says, while sitting comfortably at the La Pulga Spirits’ Office at 5300 Pershing Ave. “Most people here are honest, sincere… It’s a great home base.”
For De La Torre, College was a time of exploration. He switched majors, piecing together a communications degree while figuring out what he wanted to do.
Even before graduation, de la Torre was learning lessons in discipline and grit. By day he worked construction, mastering trades like sheetrock, carpentry, and tile. By night he waited tables at the legendary Joe T. Garcia’s.
“My dad taught me at a very young age that humility is the essence of greatness — and nothing taught me more humility than being a server,” he says.
La Pulga Spirits
He quickly applied those lessons to the business world. By 2005, he was flipping houses and learning to manage construction projects — experiences that gave him the skills and capital to pursue larger ventures.
“I was doing construction in the mornings and waiting tables at night,” he recalls. “I did that for six years until I opened my first nightclub in downtown Fort Worth.”
That nightclub was Embargo, a 7,000-square-foot Cuban-themed venue in Fort Worth’s southeastern downtown on the corner of Eighth and Calhoun Streets. The club quickly became a cultural hub, known for hand-crafted mojitos, salsa nights, and late-night tacos.
“People freaked out about the food,” de la Torre remembers.
Beyond the food, de la Torre always tried to lead by example in any capacity he could at the club.
“I would scrub in and do everything myself — wash dishes, and take out the trash. I’d never ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t do,” he says.
In 2009, De La Torre was brought on by a private equity firm to manage Pequeño Mexico, the 12-acre open-air market in Fort Worth’s Northside that had been a staple of the Latin community for decades. Known locally as a ‘Pulga,’ Spanish for flea, the market features bars, live concerts, and more than 60 tenants. Over the years, it has survived multiple development threats, including proposals for apartments and big-box stores, preserving a vibrant cultural hub for the Mexican community
Embargo continued to operate until 2015, while De La Torre balanced both ventures.
“It’s rough around the edges,” he says of the North Side flea market’s look. “But that’s part of what makes it cool. The people out there work very hard, and there’s just a great sense of community.”
La Pulga Spirits
From the left, La Pulga Spirits founders Stephen Slaughter, Sarah Castillo, and Andrew De La Torre.
That community became the inspiration for La Pulga Spirits, which De La Torre co-founded with Sarah Castillo and Stephen Slaughter. The company produces additive-free tequila, mezcal, and sotol and is now available in eight states across the U.S.
“You can’t name this brand after the people at the market and then charge them a crazy amount for it,” De La Torre says about the spirit’s price point. “We wanted to create something high-quality, approachable, and true to the culture that inspired it.”
Running a spirits company is not just about bottles; it’s about relationships. De la Torre and his team travel regularly to Mexico to visit distilleries in San Luis Potosí, Chihuahua, and the Highlands of Jalisco.
“Somebody from our team is down there maybe once a month, talking to distillers, breaking bread with them,” he says. “We’re partners, but we’re mainly friends at this point.”
He recounts planting seeds, drinking mezcal, and even riding horses on the distillery fields.
“One day while I was out there working in the fields, I asked for a pair of gloves,” he opined. “The workers looked at me and said, ‘What do you need those for?’. By the end of the day, the foreman threw me a pair of gloves, stating, ‘You’ve earned them.’ I was pleased to know I had earned their respect.”
Even with a thriving portfolio of ventures, De La Torre measures success differently.
“My greatest accomplishments are being a husband and father,” he says.
Yet in Fort Worth, he is known for a relentless work ethic, humility, and loyalty to his community. Early mornings on rooftops with Empire Commercial Roofing, afternoons promoting La Pulga Spirits, and weekends at Pequeño Mexico all reflect a life built on hands-on engagement.
“It connects me to my heritage,” he says of places like the open-air market. “There’s a pride in where you come from and what you’re doing.”
