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Food trucks are often great testing grounds for stand-alone restaurants, and now another one of Houston’s taco eateries on wheels, Taqueria Barba, is getting ready to debut its new permanent location in the Heights.
The taco purveyor’s forthcoming permanent location at 3701 N Main St will bear the new moniker Cantina Barba. Pictures on the food truck’s Instagram show the brick facade all lit up with neon lights and a flashy logo bearing a pineapple and lightning bolts. Owner of Taqueria Barba, Steven O’Sullivan, doesn’t have a definite first date of service on the calendar, but says they’ll be opening as soon as possible. Right now, O’Sullivan expects that it will open within the next several weeks, depending on when the health department can make it out for a final inspection.
The permanent location will offer a full bar, including an exciting selection of mezcals that are new to Houston and frozen margarita machines. The newly-expanded menu will feature chicken, barbacoa, and pork shoulder smoked on Cantina Barba’s custom-made smoker. Plus, the Cantina still plans to serve breakfast tacos all day, like its truck counterpart.
Taqueria Barba’s success over the past two years spurred Sullivan to take the business up a notch. “It’s something we always thought about,” he says. “I come from a background in bars and wanted a full service restaurant with food and liquor so customers could have a more complete experience. When this spot opened up, it just all came together. It was very fortuitous.”
When Cantina Barba opens, it will operate Sunday through Thursday 7 a.m. to midnight, with extended hours until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. Taqueria Barba will continue to serve tacos 7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2119 Washington Ave.
