After 19 years of fueling Memorial Drive mornings, Sunrise Taquitos has gone dark at its tiny Shell station window, leaving regulars suddenly without their usual breakfast taco fix. The snug counter at 5601 Memorial Dr. stopped operating as a Sunrise Taquitos on Tuesday, owner Jacob Torres confirmed. Franchisee Gloria Ceballos will keep working the window for about two more weeks, but the brand itself is out of the building. Torres said the site’s cramped roughly 1,000-square-foot footprint and steep rent made the setup unworkable, and he is already hunting for a larger spot nearby. Sunrise Taquitos is still slinging tacos at its Spring and Copperfield locations.
Shell remodel and rent cited
Torres told the paper that the Shell station had made it clear a restaurant would not remain in the space once a planned remodel began, and that the Memorial outpost had been on a month-to-month lease for the past two and a half years. He described the rent at the station as “extremely high,” a key factor that pushed him to walk away from the address, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
Owner aims to reopen nearby
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Torres said he is trying to land a larger Memorial-area location and is targeting an early April opening. “It’s hard to do something after 20 years,” he told the paper, noting how much the change will upend regulars’ routines. While Torres works on a new lease, Ceballos will keep turning out tacos at the Shell window so neighborhood customers are not cut off cold turkey.
Other locations remain open
According to Sunrise Taquitos, the mini-chain still operates active locations in Spring and Copperfield, so the Memorial closure does not take out the entire business. The Spring shop has been a neighborhood staple for roughly two decades, and Copperfield opened in 2024. Customers can check the restaurant’s site for current hours and catering details.
A family taco legacy
The shutdown on Memorial is one chapter in a longer family taco story. Villa Arcos, founded by Velia Arcos Rodríguez Durán in 1977, eventually spun off Sunrise Taquitos a few years later, and both brands are now run by Jacob Torres as a third-generation operation, according to the Villa Arcos site. The Memorial window’s simple, from-scratch tortillas and steady morning crowds have drawn local praise over the years, including a past feature in the Houston Press. For now, neighbors are waiting to see if Sunrise returns to Memorial with more elbow room and a beefed-up kitchen.
