Rachel’s Taqueria To Expand With Tijuana-Style Joint Called Tortillas

Fans of Rachel’s Taqueria (408 5th Avenue, between 7th and 8th Streets) will be excited to learn they’re expanding to another space down the block, where they’ll be cooking up fresh tortillas and serving up “truly traditional Mexican from Tijuana, B.C.”

The new space, according to a sign posted in the window and the neon sign that’s already lit, will apparently be called simply Tortillas. They’re taking over the storefront at 412 5th Avenue, a space that has held a string of pizzerias — most recently Napoleon, which only lasted a few months there.

The note posted in the window explains the owners have been wanting to make fresh tortillas for a while, but that it’s “a commitment of both time and space and Rachel’s has become so many things to so many people we just couldn’t bring ourselves to sacrificing someone’s favorite item.”

This new space, they explain, will provide Rachel’s with fresh tortillas, and will also serve some items they’ve been working on making a bit simpler: “Al Pastor cooked on the “trompo”, Carnitas Michoacanas, Nopales, and a few more items along with daily specials.”

As there are some other places in the area for tasty tacos — including some that make their own tortillas — it will be interesting to see how a new one does, but it seems promising when it’s one that seems to be taking its tortilla-making so seriously. They write:

Over the next few weeks we’ll be ramping-up operations, smoothing things out for the opening and in the process, seasoning our “comal” the grill-top dedicated to tortillas. With time and commitment, the “comal” will develop a character all her own, never producing the same tortilla twice. So please, join us soon for your first tortilla.

When we popped our head into the shop over the weekend, a couple of ladies were indeed seasoning that comal, and they told us they expect to be open in about two weeks.