Fort Collins' most popular taco stand is expanding

Five years ago, Cesar Lopez and Berenice Longoria arrived in Fort Collins newly married and not knowing anyone in town.

At ages 22 and 19, the couple had gambled on a new career by purchasing the old Tacos On The Street food cart. They renamed it The Taco Stop and started serving street tacos and quesadillas.

"To be honest, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into," Lopez said. "We certainly didn't know what would come next."

The Taco Stop has since emerged as one of Northern Colorado's most popular mobile food stands, serving at Odell Brewing every Tuesday, at New Belgium Brewing every Thursday and for the late-night weekend Old Town crowd at the intersection of S. College Avenue and E. Oak Street. The stand is also a regular at area food truck rallies and other festivals.

The operation that started as just Lopez and Longoria working now has 11 total employees.

A food trailer was added to the Taco Stop's arsenal in 2015. They're debuting a food truck in September that will test out an expanded menu including breakfast foods. The ultimate goal is to open a brick and mortar location in the area.

"It was a hard process getting to where we are at now," Longoria said. "It takes a lot of time, dedication, consistency and just believing in your product."

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Longoria grew up in Weslaco, Texas, often crossing over the nearby Mexican border to eat at taco stands. She learned basic business management skills helping out at her mother's cosmetology and barber shop. Those skills help her now as she manages The Taco Stop's accounting, hiring and marketing, among numerous other duties.

Lopez grew up in Mexico City. He was hired as a dishwasher at age 15, but the job quickly morphed into a cooking position.

"I couldn't stop cooking after that," Lopez said.

Lopez won a scholarship to attend a Mexico City culinary school, learning more refined techniques and international cuisine. 

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He headed to Colorado, without knowing much English, with the idea of saving for more culinary studies.

Instead, Lopez met Longoria in Frisco and was inspired to run his own mobile food service. The couple later married in Breckenridge

Lopez, who manages the kitchen side of the business, first developed The Taco Stop's trademark spicy red and mild green salsas — he went through nearly a dozen recipe combinations to create both.

Though the operation started out making about 10 pounds of salsa a week, it now makes more than 100 pounds per week.

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"At first people thought we were too young to be running a food cart," Longoria said. "People never believed that we were actually the ones in charge. It took us a long time to earn people's trust."

Lopez and Longoria credit Waffle Lab food truck founder Bill Almquist among others in the local food truck scene for sharing pointers on breaking into the business. They've paid that help forward, agreeing to rotate with the newer Austin Taco truck at the Tuesday City Park food truck rallies.

Growing out of its more basic beginnings, The Taco Stop's menu now includes chicken, pork and spinach varieties. There are also nachos, enchiladas, sandwiches and salads.

"You wouldn't find chicken tacos or spinach quesadillas or some of the other things we do in Mexico City," Lopez admits. "But I've realized the people out here have different appetites. So we put little twists on some of the dishes."

The Taco Stop's new food truck, however, is planning to have a more authentic approach with traditional Mexican breakfast favorites like egg-topped chilaquiles and enchiladas.

And if all goes according to plan, The Taco Stop will eventually have its own brick and mortar restaurant space.

"I want to show people we are much more than just tacos and quesadillas," Lopez said. "That we can do so much more."

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen.

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