First Look: Welcome to the Jungle at Hugo’s Lost Colony

A large, white building on Justin Road in Highland Village is more than meets the eye. The sign simply reads "Lost Colony." Is it a restaurant, a store, something so secret they dare not advertise? The packed parking lot, a slew of palm trees and pure mystery of the building led us straight to Google to find out more. A tagline on the website says, “Escape the Everyday,” and that’s exactly what you’ll do here.

This is the second concept to be named after co-founder and managing partner, Hugo Miranda, who opened Hugo’s Invitados in 2018 in Irving. Natalio Charles is the executive chef and head of culinary creation, a position he also held at Invidatos. Here he serves Tex-Mex favorites made with fresh, natural ingredients, with a few surprises.
The Instagram-able neon signs outside build anticipation: “Get Lost Here,” “Paradise Found” and “Live, Love, Lost Colony.” Walking through the doors and it’s a full-out jungle. There's neon greenery everywhere. Literally everywhere: the ceiling, the walls, and throughout the three different themed dining rooms. There’s even a giant palm tree in the middle of the main dining room.

Only three weeks into opening, Hugo's Lost Colony was packed on a recent Friday night. They don’t take reservations, but seating was quicker than the quoted wait time. On a less busy evening, you can choose your own adventure and sit in the room of your choice.

The menu is simple: starters, salads and bowls, enchiladas and fajitas. The item descriptions are more in-depth on the website. For instance, you’ll just see "fried calamari” on the menu at the restaurant, but the online version describes "steak calamari strips topped with chicharrón-crusted jalapenos and onions, served over arbol milpa tomatillo sauce." The calamari was bursting with flavor, a combination of the delicious toppings and a batter of crushed pork rinds.

All of the margaritas are made with Mi Campo tequila (except the top-shelf option), fresh fruit juices and house-made simple syrup. Be on the lookout for the tequila cart where a server will recommend different top-shelf tequilas and serve them up tableside. The drink menu also includes 10 draft beers and a selection of bottled beers and wines. Weekday happy hour specials include $5 margaritas, draft beers and house wine from 4-7 p.m.
For the main course, our server recommended outside skirt steak, with a cilantro-lime marinade; the meat comes from 44 Farms, a Texas ranch boasting of meats produced sustainably with no added hormones, antibiotics or artificial ingredients.

The meat was perfectly cooked medium-rare, served with a side of rice, refried beans, toppings and housemade tortillas. Chipotle shrimp enchiladas topped with a creamy chipotle sauce came with smoky, grilled white pacific shrimp.
In addition to the three dining rooms, the restaurant has a large indoor bar area called Tulum and an outdoor area with an adults-only patio called No Embargo. There's also an open to all-ages patio called the Back Porch. The outdoor bar just screams tropical paradise, total escapism vibes — smoky mist, metal flamingos, more greenery — and without the kitschy, mundane atmosphere of a Margaritaville. The No Embargo patio is slated to have live music almost every night.

Just when you thought Hugo’s couldn’t be bursting with any more interesting things to take a selfie with, this is only the beginning: This is just phase one with phase two, “La Zona,” scheduled to open in spring. Did we spy a pirate ship behind that wooden fence in the parking lot? Regardless, a return to Hugo’s Lost Colony is in order, both for the food, the ambiance and for the advertised escape from the everyday.

Hugo's Lost Colony, 2420 Justin Road (Highland Village), Monday - Thursday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. - 12 a.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. - 12 a.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.