A downtown Austin food truck continued to expand in the Northwest Austin area with the opening of a second brick-and-mortar location Sept. 8.

OneTaco co-owners Tony Avila and Axel Beverido aim to bring a traditional Mexican taqueria and cerveceria—a restaurant specializing in tacos and beer, respectively—to the city.

“There’s probably five or six different types of tacos in Mexico,” Avila said. “What you want to do is perfect them and make them taste as best as you can and work on your environment. It’s not about experimenting. … It’s about being true to the tradition.”

Avila, who works at an architecture firm, and Beverido, an engineer, are the first to admit they were the least qualified to run a restaurant. Deciding not to become another Torchy’s Tacos or Tacodeli, they stuck with what they knew: authentic Mexican tacos.

“We’re not like that; our concept is a Mexican taqueria, and we want to keep it that way,” Beverido said.

Despite not having a culinary background, Avila and Beverido—the two met in college in Monterrey, Mexico—opened a food truck in November 2009 off Sixth Street in downtown Austin.

Operating the food truck first served as a stepping stone toward opening a restaurant, Avila said.

“We always had it in the back of our mind that we wanted to open a restaurant,” he said. “… We kept growing internally, and we made the product and presentation better as time went by.”

In June 2016, Avila and Beverido opened their first brick-and-mortar location on Research Boulevard in Northwest Austin and opened the Anderson Lane location Sept. 8.

For the restaurants, they brought in Corona logo tables and other decor from Mexico to give the space the impression it had been transported from Mexico.

With Austin being a very competitive market for restaurants, Avila said he has some advice for food truck owners wanting to grow.

“Just don’t give up,” Avila said. “There were a lot of instances where we thought it just wouldn’t happen.”

OneTaco
12200 Research Blvd., Ste. 400, Austin
512-258-5525
2900 W. Anderson Lane, Ste. 14, Austin
512-580-1322
www.eatonetaco.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m.-8 p.m.