Torchy’s Tacos Heads North to Preston Forest Square
Correction: In the original post, I repeatedly referred to the co-owner of Torcy’s as Bob Gibson. His name, in fact, is Bob Gentry.
You’ve no doubt, by now, had your tacos rusty. Pretty soon, you won’t have to go far to have them torchy as well. South Austin taqueria Torchy’s Tacos will be opening its first non-Austin location right behind Potbelly’s (the old Fish Express) in Preston Forest Square around the end of June, early July, said co-owner Bob Gentry.
“A lot of people beat the path from Austin to Dallas all the time, so over the last couple of years in particular, we’ve just had an increasing number of people request that we move to Dallas,” Gentry said. “Dallas is a cool place to be, a lot of interesting things going on up there, so we just wanted to head north.”
Torchy’s serves it’s full menu all day. More “gourmet food on a tortilla” than traditional taqueria, the restaurant offers tacos of fried shrimp, fried chicken, and fried avacado, Gentry said. According to the website, they also have non-fried toppings and, fitting of its city of origen, plenty of vegetarian options.
Nor is Gentry worried about the restaurant’s Austonian sensibilities (the original location is, literally a trailer) translating to its traditionally more staid northern neighbor.
“We don’t think it’s going to be tough,” he said. “We’re not just totally radical South Austin hippies. Not totally.”
But my one burning question: Does Torchy’s really have a taco called the “Dirty Sanchez”? Really?
“We do have a Dirty Sanchez,” Gentry told me. “Can I describe it? You oughta really know what that is.”
Of course: Scrambled eggs, guacamole, a fried poblano pepper, escabeche carrots, and shredded cheese on a flour tortilla. What else would it be?
