Tacos Mexicanos permanently closes Underwood Avenue location. Here's what's happening next

While 2022 was a year of rapid restaurant growth for Tacos Mexicanos owners Gabriel Hernandez and his wife, Gabriela Ramirez, 2024 is bringing them back to their roots.

Their original mom-and-pop style taco truck at 3000 N. 12th Ave. quickly picked up popularity in the East Hill neighborhood after opening in 2016, leading them to open a second location in the Garden & Grain courtyard at 50 E. Garden St. in 2020. The restaurant is best known for its traditional Mexican fare, including their signature “Awesome Taco” comprised of avocado, meat, grilled onion, queso fresco, red onion and cilantro.

When Hernandez and Ramirez set out to grow their brand, they joined forces with the newly formed Artisan Restaurant Group and rolled out Proper Burger and Gaby’s Taqueria. While the partnership allowed them to work on new, creative projects, the Tacos Mexicanos regulars soon began noticing changes.

First, their Tacos Mexicanos food truck in the heart of downtown Pensacola suddenly closed. Shortly after, a new brick-and-mortar location popped up at 1014 Underwood Ave. in November 2022. The airy restaurant, painted with bright bubblegum pink walls, café-style barstools and emerald green tile backsplashes, was Tacos Mexicanos’ first sit-down location. That restaurant closed its doors in September 2023.

While the sales at the sit-down Underwood Avenue location were strong enough for the restaurant to eventually thrive, it “wasn’t enough to justify taking eyes off” the other businesses they were starting, he said.

“It’s something that we had to try,” Hernandez said.

He also believes they may have been better off starting a brand-new concept at the Underwood Avenue location, rather than continuing the Tacos Mexicanos menu, which was almost identical to the food truck that was only 3 miles away.

“We just made the mistake, as a team, as opening it as a Tacos Mexicanos … that in of itself was one of the challenges,” Hernandez said. “We didn’t have a market that was excited for the opening.”

Where does Tacos Mexicanos stand now?

Hernandez and Ramirez have since left the partnership and are now back full-time with Tacos Mexicanos at the sole location off 12th Avenue. Since they are back on the truck every day, they have been making improvements, both to their products and the truck's customer service.

“We’re bringing the original location back to how it used to feel when we first opened,” Hernandez said. “The little things that make mom and pop businesses great. If you’re not there, it’s hard to notice.”

One thing they have noticed is a constant request from customers: quesabirria tacos.

While you won’t see the item on the Tacos Mexicanos food truck menu, it is now being offered daily due to the popular demand. Since Hernandez made that decision, it is has become the food truck’s best-selling item.

“We felt like we could pull the trigger. We wouldn’t have done that if we weren’t there,” Hernandez said.

After a busy couple of years, they plan to take the time to be “fully immersed” in their original 12th Avenue location and the potential that the Tacos Mexicanos brand has moving forward.

“We have a lot to reflect on,” Hernandez said.

For more updates and information regarding Tacos Mexicanos, follow along on social media.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Tacos Mexicanos closes Pensacola Underwood Avenue restaurant