Capital Tacos, a Tex-Mex chain from Tampa, Fla., plans to expand west of the Mississippi River for the first time with three locations in the Boulder area.
Jason and Marilyn Scoby, a father-daughter entrepreneurial pair, made the deal with to bring the restaurants to Colorado, beginning early next year. They’re eyeing Boulder and Longmont for the outposts.
The brand started with humble roots in 2013 as a corner restaurant in Land O’Lakes, Fla. Now, it spans more than 80 stores – active and under development – across state lines. The menu includes quesadillas, nachos, fries, tacos, burritos, bowls and more.
One of the elder Scoby’s reasons for the partnership with Capital Tacos might come off as controversial to some residents, as he called Tex-Mex “a flavor thatap truly been lacking here in Colorado for quite some time.”
Capital Tacos will join the state’s stacked Tex-Mex market, with competitors like Hacienda Colorado, Chuy’s, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and more.
Coloradans are passionate about tacos. While Illegal Pete’s and Torchy’s Tacos count as fan-favorite chains, myriad food trucks, taquerias and mom-and-pop spots occupy special places in the hearts of residents. Tacos Aya Yay in Lafayette, Xicamiti La Taqueria Bistro in Golden, Slope & Hatch in Glenwood Springs and La Calle Taqueria y Carnitas in Denver all recently ranked on Yelp’s list of the 100 best taco joints in the U.S.
Josh Luger, co-founder of Capital Tacos, highlighted his team’s main franchising focus as building out the chain in the Southeast U.S.
But “our brand is nationally-ranked and very well-suited to travel, and we’ll always get behind the right franchise partners whose qualifications, background, and values match those that the brand is looking for, wherever their market may be,” he said in a Tuesday statement. “The Scobys – and Colorado – fit the bill perfectly.”
