Chico’s Tacos location closes its doors

The second Chico’s Tacos built in El Paso has closed its doors.

The restaurant, known for its trademark rolled tacos served in a boat of tomato salsa and covered with shredded cheese, was located near the intersection of Montana Avenue and Chelsea Street in Central El Paso.

The spot, across the street from a Walgreens pharmacy, will soon be the location of a CVS pharmacy.

Talk of selling the land created an uproar in 2013. But it was less about the loss of a Chico’s Tacos, and more about the corporation that wanted to move into the neighborhood.

Walmart had requested that the city rezone the area so it could build a Neighborhood Market grocery store in the Chico’s Tacos footprint. Neighbors petitioned against the zoning change, and the city declined the request. The owners of the Chico’s Tacos had come out in favor of the land sale and rezoning.

Sunday, hundreds of customers filed into the restaurant for a last serving of rolled tacos at that location. While many customers knew about the closure, which happened at midnight Monday, some did not.

“I used to (come) to this Chico’s when I was a kid with my mom,” Noah Bullard told ABC-7.

Bullard now lives in Dallas.

“I was driving through the street, literally just driving through town, so I’m just picking up Chico’s for my wife and … going to take some back to Dallas,” he said.

There are other nearby Chico’s locations: in Central El Paso on Alameda Avenue near University Medical Center, and in Northeast El Paso at 3401 Dyer near Tompkins Road.