Stephen Montoya
When Alec Baldwin uttered the line “the world needs plenty of bartenders” to Mark Wahlberg’s character in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed," it must’ve planted a seed of thought in the Oscar nominated actor’s mind.
Stephen Montoya
Flash-forward several years and that is exactly what Wahlberg found himself doing when he made a quick stop through Cowtown on Monday. And just like Baldwin’s character predicted, Wahlberg was in the thick of it pouring shot after shot of his new tequila brand Flecha Azul at Joe T. Garcia’s to a throng of fans, some of whom waited hours in a line that wound through the restaurant's patio and around the outside of the main seating area.
Wahlberg, his partners, and the real bartenders of Joe T.'s were pouring "Marky Marges" with the brand. (The real bartenders of Joe T.'s were also, of course, pouring the restaurant's renowned margaritas.)
Although many celebrities have been jumping on the adult beverage bandwagon for years as an investment opportunity, Wahlberg told the Hollywood Reporter last year, his decision to enter this market had more to do with camaraderie than dollar signs. After meeting with Flecha Azul’s co-owners, Aron Marquez and golf pro Abraham Ancer in 2019, Wahlberg says he quickly recognized they all had the same set of values, including devotion, faith, family, hard work — and a love for good tequila, of course.
“I met [Marquez and Ancer] and realized we had so many things in common,” he said. “We’re all family-oriented, self-made guys and I was just really loving what they were doing [with Flecha Azul]. And I loved their story; everything that they’ve done is so similar to what I’m trying to build on my own, one step at a time.”
Investing his own money into the two-year-old brand wasn’t anything Wahlberg was asked to do. It was something he wanted to do.
Stephen Montoya
Part of building this brand, according to Wahlberg, is doing things like a quick stopover in a city to promote the tequila and give fans a chance to have a drink with a celebrity. And that’s exactly what Wahlberg and his co-owners did on Monday. But this wasn’t an unplanned stop. Wahlberg and his team announced they would be swinging by one of Fort Worth’s most iconic eateries nearly a week in advance, which gave some local Wahlberg fans a dose of much needed joy.
One such fan who showed up to this event three hours before it started, just to meet and take a selfie with the “Transformers” star was Eileen Ayala. “I am a huge fan, I love ‘Boogie Nights’, ‘The Happening’ and since I have kids, ‘Daddy’s Home’ and 'Daddy’s Home 2'”, she says with a smile of anticipation. When asked if she was also a fan of Wahlberg’s music, Ayala broke into an impromptu rendition of his biggest hit “Good Vibrations” sparking a quick sing-along and dance accompaniment by some crowd attendees.
“I’ve actually been listening to this song in my car as preparation all day.” Her only regret, she said, is that Wahlberg hasn’t played in a western yet. “He should play a cowboy and they should film the western here in Fort Worth.”
