This Salt Lake City taco shop is looking to expand without losing unique 'alley street feel'

SALT LAKE CITY — Tucked away in what may seem to be a nondescript alley in Utah's capital city, ROCTACO has been steadily growing its following and spreading its name since coming onto the food scene in 2021.

Now, five years after opening its doors, brothers Rick and Ryan Timmons are looking to bring the taco concept to more people throughout the Beehive State and, if the fit is right, beyond.

"We've validated that the concept works," Rick Timmons, co-owner of ROCTACO, told KSL. "We've been in restaurants for a long time, so we know what needs to happen there in order to be able to move it from a single location to say, 'We're going to start expanding.'"

Worldwide flavors

The concept is a unique one.

ROCTACO isn't serving up what most people would envision when their friends suggest grabbing tacos, instead offering a menu with global twists.

Tacos like the "Holy Kalbi" pull from Korean cuisine, including Korean bulgogi, purple cabbage, green onion, pickled jalapeño, and sweet and spicy srirajang sauce.

The "Tikka" offers an Indian twist on a taco, with chicken tikka masala and other toppings loaded into a handmade tortilla.

The global flavors that define ROCTACO's menu were inspired by the Timmons brothers' mission trips to different parts of the world as part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Rick Timmons time living across Asia for 20 years.

"We found these flavors around the world that we just loved, you know, street food flavors," Rick Timmons said. "We also all love tacos, and we said, 'Hey, there's no reason that you can't kind of blend those two."

Don't call it fusion, though. That's a term the brothers push back against.

"Our only fusion is ... we take these great street food flavors, and we put them on tortillas," Rick Timmons said. "We just said, 'Hey, that's a great way to eat because you can sit down and have some unique flavors — from India, our chicken tikka masala taco, Kansas City barbecue pork taco, and a more typical Latin American taco all in one shot."

To create such a wide-ranging menu, the brothers brought in culinary experts in specific ethnic cuisines to ensure ROCTACO was hitting the mark with what people expect out of great Indian or Venezuelan food, for example.

"For us, it's about making sure that every one of these tacos stands on its own as a great representation of the food of that particular country," Rick Timmons said.

Significant work also went into developing the restaurant's made-from-scratch tortillas, as Rick Timmons said he and his brother spent a year and a half traveling and testing tortillas before finally finding the perfect recipe.

'Retain that alley street feel'

Located at 248 S. Edison St., ROCTACO has a distinctly urban vibe, something Rick Timmons said is intentional.

The building's brick facade is enveloped by a mural of sprawling octopus tentacles. The lively interior greets guests with bright colors, music that's "loud and punchy," and an open kitchen so you can hear and certainly smell your food being prepared. The octopus theme also carries over to the interior, with Rick Timmons noting its inclusion is an intentional easter egg tying back to the restaurant's name.

Although the brothers have been in the restaurant business for over two decades, having operated Sonic chains across Utah and Idaho and opening Flake Pie Co. in South Jordan in 2020, the challenge that comes with expanding ROCTACO is a distinctly unique one.

"The biggest challenge is to continue to keep that mystique that is around that little alley street that you happen to cross when you're walking down the street with your friends that makes it kind of feel like a destination," Rick Timmons said. "We want to make sure that as we expand, we don't become a corporate-feeling brand. We want to retain that alley street feel. We want to have that mystique about it that it's a place that you don't see a big billboard for."

In fact, when opening ROCTACO, the brothers turned down a lot of locations with better parking, more seating and bigger kitchens.

"We wanted our origin story to be unique and be specific to the brand that we were trying to create, which is this downtown, gritty, urban, global-inspired food brand," Rick Timmons said.

With this value at the core of the restaurant's expansion plans, the brothers are being selective about where they bring their taco concept next.

Rick Timmons said ROCTACO isn't a place that will be "on every street corner and every strip mall" and despite being approved for franchising in 30 states, the initial focus is on Utah, with a goal to establish "one or two" more locations in the state before expanding beyond.

Specifically, Timmons noted Sugar House as a neighborhood that would fit the vibe of ROCTACO, while also expressing a desire to bring the concept to Utah County.

"We just want to be in the right spot. A spot that feels like a ROCTACO spot. Not a street corner with thousands of cars driving by and a big glossy billboard out front. We just want to keep that same culture," Rick Timmons said.

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