One of Raleigh’s top taco shops just opened its new brick and mortar near downtown
What was once a Burger King, then a noodle shop is now the biggest restaurant opening of 2022 so far.
Nearly two years in the making, popular taco truck Gym Tacos unveiled its new taqueria this week on Hillsborough Street.
The bright orange Gym Tacos truck has been a lunchtime and late night staple for years on Six Forks Road in Raleigh. Now the new brick and mortar spot looks to serve the taco fanatics in Downtown Raleigh and near N.C. State University.
The new location opened Monday, Jan. 31, and the line stretched out the door on the first night.
“We’re so excited to open on Hillsborough Street,” Gamaliel Romero said in an interview in December. “It’s almost like a taco truck. We’ll have a patio outside and serve late night.”
Gym Tacos is a four-person ownership team made of brothers Gamaliel and Uriel Romero and Jorge Perez and Roberto Bruno. The truck opened in 2019 and has served all around Raleigh, but is mostly a fixture inside the Beltline at 220 E. Six Forks Road.
Romero said the new Hillsborough Street location will also serve as a commissary kitchen for Gym Tacos’ trucks and catering events.
This is the second brick and mortar restaurant for Gym Tacos in less than a year. The group previously open a sports bar in North Raleigh, adding a full bar with margaritas and new dishes like nacho towers.
The new location, which took over the closed Hieu Bowl Vietnamese Kitchen at 3701 Hillsborough Street, is more straightforward, with the same taco menu, stacked with popular options like carnitas and al pastor, as the trucks. The brick and mortar also adds drink options like beer and micheladas.
For more information on Gym Tacos, visit instagram.com/gymtacos.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 4:15 PM with the headline "One of Raleigh’s top taco shops just opened its new brick and mortar near downtown."
