Tacos Tequila Whiskey will debut at the Denver International Airport (8500 Peña Blvd, Denver, CO 80249) “no later than April 1, 2023,” according to founder Kevin Morrison.
“[My hopes for the airport location] are the same as my hopes at our outlet locations: to provide an amazing experience and to showcase the street taco in an elevated but approachable format,” Morrison told What Now Denver.
The lauded sit-down restaurant started out in 2010 (on Halloween day) as a taco truck that operated under the name Pinche Tacos (“pinche” is Spanish slang for an infamous adjective starting with the letter “F” and ending in “ing”).
However, when Morrison made the decision to open up his first brick-and-mortar, the city quickly rejected the “offensive” moniker. Regardless, “after a year of serving street tacos from the Pinche Tacos trailer at the Cherry Creek Farmers’ Market and Civic Center Eats, the name stuck.”
“Pinche Tacos opened as a food truck with a vision to serve the best damn tacos you’ve ever seen coming out of a moving vehicle,” explains the company website. “Why Pinche? Well, these weren’t the crunchy, ground-beef tacos you might have had growing up and we wanted to make damned sure you knew it.”
Now, the TTW restaurant boasts a donkey-in-a-red-star logo and advertises much of what it offers right in its name. Morrison’s most popular taco-truck dish – “the queso a la plancha, which folds griddled Cotija cheese, avocado, roasted tomatillo salsa, and lime into a palm-size tortilla” – is also his personal favorite along with the carnitas. And, while the restaurant’s original name isn’t the one being publically advertised, TTW still calls back to its early days by titling its items with a precious malediction attached (Hint: “Pinche Salsas” and “Pinche Classics”).
With no lack of confidence in its fare, the company’s website explains, “We’ve brought our modern twist on “Comida de la Calle” — Mexican street food — to a sit-down restaurant with an expanded menu and a selection of quality, small-batch tequila and whiskey as well as award-winning cocktails and desserts. We still believe in using local products while staying true to authentic regional recipes — we specialize in making the absolute best street tacos anywhere.”
Article updated to include accurate dates and comments from founder Kevin Morrison.
