Crystal Wise
Sarah Castillo
At the new location of Taco Heads, you’ll find a big neon sign that reads: “Another day, another taco.” That’s pretty much the creed lived by Taco Heads founder Sarah Castillo, who has practically spent the last 11 years of her life dealing with tacos, in some fashion or another.
Those who’ve closely followed Castillo’s career will fondly recall her first taco truck, parked outside a nightclub in the West Seventh area — the first step she took toward building the local dynasty of eateries she owns and oversees now: two Taco Heads locations, a classy Mexican restaurant called Tinie’s, and a female-forward bar and small plates spot called Sidesaddle Saloon.
To celebrate the arrival of the newest Taco Heads restaurant, located in an old office building that’s been stylishly revamped by local architecture and interior design firm 97w, we chatted with the restaurateur about her past and future and, of course, tacos.
Crystal Wise
Nearly a dozen varieties of tacos are offered at the new location of Taco Heads in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
Fort Worth Magazine: Do you remember the first night of your first truck?
Castillo: Oh, my God, yeah, I definitely do — it was September 2010. After I had the food trailer that we worked out of built, I had $600 left in my bank account. That first night, I said to myself, OK, this is it. If we don’t sell anything, I won’t be able to do this again because I don’t have any more money.
Then we had to change locations at the last minute. The place where we were originally going to park required us to have a $2 million insurance policy. I mean, I had one, but not for that much. As we were packing up to go home, Jimmy [Moore], the owner of 7th Haven, came up and said we could park behind his place. He really saved us. When we finally got open, it was awesome. We had a long line of people most of the night. At the end of the night, Jimmy handed me a beer and said, “If you want to make this a permanent thing, I’ll build a patio and deck for you.” I said, “OK, I’m down for that,” and that’s how this all got started.
FW: What are some of the new items you’re offering at the new location?
Castillo: We’re doing a breakfast burrito with your choice of chipotle brisket or fajita steak, mixed with scrambled eggs, avocado, bacon, breakfast potatoes, bourbon black beans, and aged cheddar. We’re also doing these crazy loaded nachos. [Fort Worth Barber Shop and Hotel Dryce owner] Jonathan Morris was the one who started this one for us. He’d come into the Montgomery Street location and ask for something that no one else could get, something not on the menu. So, we went to town on these nachos, throwing everything on them, fried jalapeños, crema, guacamole. Other people would see him eating them, and they’d ask for them. They turned out to be so popular, we decided to put them on the permanent menu.
Crystal Wise
Loaded nachos come topped with everything on them, from fried jalapeños to crema and guacamole.
FW: How’d you and 97w approach the design of the new location?
Castillo: Taco Heads has a clean, modernish look, but we wanted to do something that obviously would fit in with the more rustic, warm feel of the Stockyards. You’ll see some leather touches here and there, lots of steel, some metal that’ll rust and look real cool. [Morgan Mercantile owner] Chance Morgan helped us smooth out the logo, and Joey [Swindle] from Evangalist Agency created a beautiful Fort Worth mural.
FW: More than a decade into this business, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned?
Castillo: If you’re going to go into the restaurant business in Fort Worth, be nice to everybody — don’t be a [jerk]. You never know who you’re gonna work with. Just be nice.
Taco Heads, 2349 N. Main St., tacoheads.com
