Jan. 16, 2023

The owners of a west-side Mexican grocery store plan to open an express restaurant in a vacant space next door.

Taqueria Los Primos will be in the former Pizza Man space at 807 S. Marion Road, said Alberto Carranza, whose family owns Mi Casa Latina Mexican Store.

“Mainly, what we’re doing is it’s going to be like a to-go place, Carranza said. “We’re having a concept basically like a food truck, but instead of a food truck, it’s going to be an open space in here where people can come and buy and get basically to go.”

It will start with a simple menu of tacos and burritos, with menudo and carnitas on the weekends, but the family eventually plans to do more traditional “homestyle” cooking, Carranza said.

Customers will have a choice of steak, chicken and pork for their tacos and burritos.

The family’s roots are in Michoacan in Mexico, but they have been in the U.S. for 20 years, Carranza said.

Seven years ago, they opened Mi Casa Latina, which offers a variety of products and even has a meat counter.

Los Primos means “the cousins,” and that’s how everyone greets each other when they come into the store — “hola, primo,” along the lines of “hey, buddy,” Carranza said.

“A lot of people have been asking for food, been asking for tacos, burritos, and finally we got the opportunity to give it a shot,” he said, noting that Pizza Man closed last summer.

Carranza has taken out a building permit and hopes to open the restaurant by summer.