Four Months in, Famous Texas Breakfast Specialist Hot Tacos to Close in Koreatown

Hot Tacos, the Koreatown breakfast specialist serving from a food truck parked at the Line Hotel, is closing. In a conversation with Eater, representative Ryan Myers says that the last day of service this go-round will be Saturday, January 29, though there are hopeful plans to return to Los Angeles down the line.

Hot Tacos has only been in operation in Los Angeles since the fall, though in that time the group — including founders Reyna and Maritza Vazquez — has grown to become one of the, ahem, hottest new places to eat in the area. That’s in part because of the Hot Tacos menu, but also its other iteration: the Vazquez’s are behind Austin, Texas’ world-famous Veracruz All Natural. And while the group has maintained all along that they want Veracruz All Natural to remain a Texas-only brand, they had hoped to use the new Hot Tacos food truck pop-up (with some overlapping menu items, like the migas breakfast taco) to grow beyond the Lone Star State.

Myers says that is still very much in the works, though for now the group will cease all LA operations as of Saturday night. “Hot Taco was always meant to be a pop-up,” Myers said by phone, “to see how Reyna and Maritza would do in a city that already has a lot of good tacos. We are really overwhelmed by the reception from everyone. And that’s what makes this bittersweet; it’s still really doing well. It’s hard to stop a pop-up when it’s only getting stronger.”

Hot Tacos

As for the why, Myers says the issues are multiple: It’s hard work cooking from a food truck every day, to say nothing of supply chain issues and staffing woes endemic to the entire hospitality industry at the moment. It was also time, per an agreement with the Line Hotel, to move on from the group’s parking lot setup anyway, so now the Vazquez’s will roll the rig out of town and out to Austin for an extended run at the upcoming South by Southwest festival in March. From there, Myers says, the team will figure out what’s next for Hot Tacos as a brand, and LA as a possible permanent location.

Myers says the family is “really confident” that they will find a way back to Los Angeles, potentially as a full brick-and-mortar restaurant. And with the truck relocating to Austin, there are plans to activate Hot Tacos in other cities and at other public events, potentially across the country.

The last day of Hot Tacos service at the Line Hotel in Koreatown is this Saturday, January 29. Check out the group’s goodbye (for now) post on Instagram.

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