Carlos Ordaz-Nunez will reintroduce TBT El Gallo as a full-service restaurant in the former Kreggers at Hand space. (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
If there was one goal Mexico-born, Hanover-raised Carlos Ordaz-Nunez had on his vision board for 2024, it was to score spacious, turnkey digs for his nearly 3-year-old taqueria, TBT El Gallo. Less than two weeks into the year, he’s checking it off the wish list.
In the coming months, the gregarious chef-owner will reintroduce the venture as a full-service restaurant, complete with a bar program, expanded menu and outdoor cafe. Taking over the shuttered Kreggers at Hand building at 2614 W. Cary St., which closed in March, he’s aiming for a March 19 debut, his business’ third anniversary.
“It’s crazy how this journey has evolved from just me with a taco cart at random farmers markets, to breweries, to becoming semi-official with the pop-ups, to the brick-and-mortar, to opening the stall at Hatch [Local food hall] — from the training wheels to running operations,” he says.
Just a few months into working out of his current takeout-focused brick-and-mortar at 2118 W. Cary St., he says it became clear that they were going to outgrow the pint-sized space. “I’ve been looking for a bigger location for two years,” Ordaz-Nunez says, but the time in the original location has allowed him to build out his vision to its fullest potential.
“When I started, I kept hearing, ‘You should be fast-casual,’ ‘You should be a food truck,’ and it took me about a year, year and a half of thinking about what I wanted my business to grow into before I decided this is what I want,” he says. “I want to be a neighborhood taqueria, I want to be part of a community and be a staple for a neighborhood. Have the rooster spread its wings.”
Enter TBT 2.0, a refreshed, tequila-spiked version of the biz, boasting breakfast, late-night hours and a bar program. While TBT stands for Tacos, Burritos, Tortas and, unofficially, Totally Badass Taqueria, Ordaz-Nunez says the pillars of the expanded version will be Tacos, Breakfast and Tequila.
The roomy outdoor patio in the new space will be converted into Cafecito Gallito, a walk-up coffee bar serving brunch-centric fare including tacos, burritos, breakfast cemitas — a sandwich made from fluffy, sesame-studded Mexican buns of the same name — and rotating specials. The daytime cafe will serve a morning menu from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., with lunch available beginning at 11 a.m.
It’s during dinner service from 5 to 10 p.m. where Ordaz-Nunez will make the biggest changes. Starters will include queso fundido, house ceviche in a Tajín hot sauce vinaigrette, and an assortment of dipping sauces with a description that reads, “If it goes on a chip, you get it amigos.” Botanas, or small plates, will range from seafood-forward dishes such as seasonal aguachiles with green goddess dressing and tuna tostadas to bar fare including guajillo pork ribs with jicama-fennel-apple slaw and queso fresco, brined chicken wings tossed in housemade Buffalo sauce with poblano cream, and an all-beef Sonora hot dog.
“My approach to Mexican cooking has always been whimsical and silly and always been really tongue and cheek, but with a focus on Mexican ingredients,” Ordaz-Nunez says.
TBT’s established lineup of playfully named tacos will remain, including the “Slam Dunk Contest” quesabirria; vegetarian-friendly Tierra Santa with roasted squash and nopales, fried corn, chile-cumin butter, and poblano crema; and pork belly al pastor “Aloha Fluffy.”
When the new location opens, the goal is for the original TBT El Gallo space to serve as a centralized prep building for catering. Ordaz-Nunez says he’s working with coffee industry friends such as Recluse Roasting Project and Paix to navigate that world and land a supplier from Mexico. His goal is for the new bar program to be a showcase of wines from places such as Valle de Guadalupe — Mexico’s wine country — and other areas of Latin America.
Inside, guests can expect the decor and music to be a peek into the mind of the owner, tables adorned with bright flowers, walls accented with punk rock records and art from first-generation Mexican American Emilia Cruz.
“A big part of my identity is being a son of an immigrant and honoring that sacrifice my parents made, especially with my father passing a couple years ago,” he says. “I’m so lucky to be able to continue that legacy. I just want this place to be an authentic representation of my personal beliefs and heritage and love for this city.”
The new location of TBT El Gallo, 2614 W. Cary St., will launch with Thursday-Monday operations, eventually opening daily with breakfast and coffee from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., lunch from 11 a.m to 2 p.m., dinner from 5 to 10 p.m, and a bar/late-night menu from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
