A restaurant chef preparing a dish

Welcome to

TEAM PLAYA

Mill Valley's best mexican.

Manfred Mendez


General Manager and Beverage Director

Manfred was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco and raised in Marin County. His artistic background paired with the experience of living in Veracruz and Mexico City, are the inspiration for his creation of enticing and innovative cocktails at Playa.


His restaurant career began at the age of fourteen at Harbor Grill in Sausalito. After studying Fine Arts and Multimedia, he began working in restaurants again. Given the opportunity to tend bar after the resident bartender did not show, Manfred had found his new passion. Having built a strong foundation with classic and contemporary cocktails at Cafe Arrivederci, he has since worked in various establishments throughout Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco.


Manfred combines the flavors of his childhood, along with the vast array of ingredients used in Mexican, Latin American, and Caribbean cuisine as inspiration to create the cocktails at Playa, of course, always with his creative touch.



Proprietors