One of Austin’s most popular taco restaurants has opened its second Houston location. Tacodeli is now open in Post Oak Plaza (1715 Post Oak Blvd.), but Houston will soon see a third location — and more after that.
Founder Roberto Espinoza and co-owner Eric Wilkerson brought Tacodeli to Houston back in 2017. It quickly earned a following for its tacos that are rooted in Espinoza’s hometown of Mexico City but blended with touches from his time in America. It’s a winning combination that’s allowed the company to grow steadily for 25 years.
“I always want to have some sort of representation of what some traditional dishes are from Mexico, but with an ability to interpret that in a way that feels good to us,” Espinoza says on this week’s episode of CultureMap’s “What’s Eric Eating” podcast. “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we’ll give it our own little touch.”
Perhaps the biggest change the company has made since arriving in Houston are the additions of dinner service and cocktails. The Post Oak location is just the second Tacodeli to open since they made the change to all-day service. It’s reflected in certain aspects of the new restaurant’s design.
Tacodeli has upgraded the interior of its new location.Photo by Michael Forbes
“Historically, we would build them for speed. It was the office lunch crowd. We needed to get people in-and-out quickly,” Wilkerson explains. “As we thought about dinner, we needed to make it a little more comfortable … encourage people to hang around, have another margarita, have some fun. So we tried to be a little more thoughtful about the interior finish-out.”
In fact, the company is feeling so bullish on Houston that it’s already planning a third location that will open either later this year or early 2025 in the Hedwig Village Shopping Center (9406 Gaylord Dr.). That won’t be the last.
“We are continuing to look very hard in the inner loop and also in the some of the suburban areas,” Wilkerson says. “Seven or eight restaurants is a very realistic goal … We have some trade areas identified that we feel confident about. It’s just can we find a space that’s the right size and has the attributes we’re looking for.”
Listen to the full episode to hear Espinoza and Wilkerson tell the story of how they started working together. They also share a few of their favorite menu items.
In this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Chelsea Thomas, staff writer for The Infatuation Houston, discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: Love Buzz Pizza Pub suddenly closing in Montrose; Pitch 25’s plans to open in Katy; and The Taco Stand opening in Webster.
In the restaurants of the week segment, the two writers discuss their meals at two new restaurants. First, they find a lot to like about Dipping Tiger, the new pho restaurant from Tiger Den chef-owner Mike Tran. Second, they have a more mixed experience at Tsujita Artisan Noodle, the Los Angeles-based concept that opened in March at the West on West shopping center.
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