A new restaurant has opened at 2633 St. Claude Ave. serving tacos, classic Mexican dishes and Central American specialties, the latest step in a years-long journey for owner Iris Cardona that started with a single food truck. Tacos Diva Bar & Grill offers dine-in service with a 60-seat dining room, a large bayou mural, and a menu built on fresh ingredients, house-made flour tortillas and house-made sauces.
Cardona, a 40-year-old Honduran single mother, moved to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and later spent five years bartending at Casa Borrega, according to Gambit. The Central City restaurant, opened in July 2013 on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard by Mexico City native Hugo Montero, served as a major venue for live Latin music and art before closing in 2024, per elRestaurante Magazine. Cardona has said she was tired while working as a bartender there, but that customers' happiness made it worthwhile.
Before opening the brick-and-mortar location on July 1, Cardona ran the Tacos Diva food truck, which operated on St. Claude Avenue near bars, serving homemade Mexican, Honduran and Salvadoran food until 11 p.m. on weeknights and later on weekends. That truck-to-storefront path mirrors a pattern across metro New Orleans, where many Central American food businesses began as post-Katrina food trucks serving local workers before expanding into brick-and-mortar restaurants with combined Honduran, Salvadoran and Mexican menus, according to Where Y'at Magazine.
A Family Operation Behind the Counter
Cardona's 18-year-old son, Elvin Garza, has stepped up as the family expands the business. Garza, who graduated from Chalmette High School and whose family lives near the school, now runs the food truck kitchen with a team member and plans to help more with the restaurant going forward. He has said the family always helped out while growing up and that he can now do more, adding that they plan to make a few changes once they have the budget.
The new restaurant serves lunch and dinner Tuesday through Sunday and is open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day except Monday. Tacos run $3.50 to $4 each, while a carne asada plate with steak, rice, refried beans, salad, guacamole and tortillas is priced at $16, the report notes.
A Menu Spanning Three Countries
The menu leans heavily on classic Mexican staples alongside Honduran and Salvadoran dishes, including pupusas. Diners can order al pastor tacos with pineapple and marinated pork, grilled shrimp tacos using the same al pastor recipe, and flautas filled with fried chicken, vegetables, avocado and sour cream. Other options include a grilled chicken breast a la plancha, grilled vegetable quesadillas and burritos, chile relleno that can be made vegan without cheese, and ceviche dishes such as shrimp ceviche with mango and serrano peppers and aquachile with shrimp, fish, lime, cucumber and red onion. Once cooler weather arrives, the restaurant plans to add traditional Mexican menudo and pozole soups.
The pairing of Honduran and Salvadoran staples with Mexican classics reflects a broader shift in how New Orleans diners eat. Honduran baleadas and pupusas have gained growing mainstream recognition locally, reflecting increased appreciation for regional diversity within Latin American cuisine, according to NPR. The New Orleans metro area is home to over 100,000 Honduran residents, the largest Honduran community in the United States, a population rooted in the city's 19th- and 20th-century history as a banana trade hub for Standard Fruit and United Fruit, per Culinary Backstreets.
Art Inside a Space With a Winding History
Inside, diners will find a large bayou mural by artist Scott Guion, whose work carries its own local pedigree. Guion was selected to paint the official New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival poster three years running, in 2019, 2020 and 2021, and has also created murals for the House of Blues and the Grand Ole Opry, according to OffBeat Magazine. His 2019 Jazz Fest poster, marking the festival's 50th anniversary, paid homage to Art Kane's iconic jazz photograph.
The 2,000-square-foot building at 2633 St. Claude Ave. has seen its share of turnover. It previously housed Freezy Street, a Thai rolled ice cream shop that opened in July 2017, and as recently as January 2025 was slated to become sit-down Cajun restaurant The 337, according to What Now New Orleans. That kind of rapid concept-switching is common along this stretch of St. Claude Avenue, where commercial spaces frequently change hands between distinct dining ideas.
A Corridor in the Middle of a Comeback
Tacos Diva's arrival lands amid a broader push to revive the St. Claude Avenue commercial strip. The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority partnered with the city on a $2 million revitalization initiative for the corridor, completing a retail study in December 2025 aimed at addressing vacancies and supporting retail growth. St. Claude Avenue was also added to Louisiana's Main Street program in 2022, and rail service returned to the corridor in 2016 through the Rampart–St. Claude Streetcar Line, reconnecting a route that had operated streetcars from 1926 to 1949.
Other restaurants have recently tested the same stretch of avenue. Bywater's toasted arrival came in May 2026 when counter-service Japanese sandwich spot Gaijin Sandos opened at 3304 St. Claude Ave. in the former Rosalita's Backyard Tacos building, another sign of the ongoing churn of pop-ups and permanent openings along the corridor. For now, Cardona and her son are focused on running two food operations at once, with the food truck still active alongside the new dining room, and no firm timeline yet for the upgrades they hope to make once budget allows.
