A new Washington state liquor license application has revealed that Taco Street, the Chihuahua-style Mexican street food chain, is expanding into Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood, setting up shop at 5602 1st Ave S in a building with a long and smoky local history. The application covers restaurant lounge, service bar, and catering licenses, though the company has not yet announced an opening date.
The site was most recently home to Blind Raven BBQ & Catering, which closed permanently, according to WhatNow Seattle. Business registry records reviewed by The Closure Record place Blind Raven's estimated closure in spring 2025, leaving the standalone commercial space vacant before Taco Street filed its liquor paperwork. Long before Blind Raven, the address was occupied for years by Pig Iron Bar-B-Q, an established smokehouse that operated along the 1st Avenue South industrial corridor near Slim's Last Chance Chili Shack, according to Seattle Magazine.
Taco Street founder, owner, and executive chef Elonka Perez confirmed the move in a July social media post, praising the building's barbecue-hall lineage and saying she intends to preserve its rustic dive-bar charm while introducing Mexican street food. Perez noted the space had retained an earthy, smoky ambiance left behind by both Pig Iron and Blind Raven, per the same post.
A Growing Footprint Across the Region
The Georgetown address will become Taco Street's fourth current location, joining a rapidly growing regional lineup. The company already operates at the Waterfront Market at Ruston (5101 Yacht Club Rd. in Ruston), inside the food court at Tacoma Mall (4502 S. Steele St.), and at a quick-service kitchen inside Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's Central Terminal. That airport spot came after Taco Street was selected in August for the Port of Seattle's SEA Sparks Small Business Economic Development Program, part of what the Port of Seattle describes as North America's first airport quick-service restaurant incubator kitchens.
Taco Street's roots go back to a mobile food cart, and the business later opened its first Seattle storefront at 7136 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. in the Othello district of Rainier Valley. That location was converted into a dedicated commissary kitchen in May 2025 to support the chain's expanding footprint, as reported by WhatNow Seattle. The Georgetown build-out effectively marks a return to a Seattle standalone storefront after that shift toward centralized kitchen infrastructure.
Chihuahua-Style Menu and Past Growing Pains
The chain specializes in street food inspired by Mexico's Chihuahua region, with a menu that includes tacos, burritos, tortas, chilaquiles, and other Mexican dishes, along with signature oversized items like the two-pound El Monstruo Burrito and SoCal burritos loaded with carne asada and potatoes. Drinks on offer include beer, sodas, house-made horchata, aguas frescas, and Aguas Locas, the company's house-blended spiked beverages.
Taco Street's expansion hasn't always been smooth. In July 2022, the chain became the center of a regional controversy in Ruston after the Point Ruston Owners Association cited Taco Street's brick-and-mortar exclusivity lease clause to temporarily bar local farmers market vendors from selling Mexican food, according to KING 5 News. The move sparked significant local outcry before Point Ruston and Taco Street reached a compromise, allowing pop-up vendors including El Güero Birria Tacos and Burrito Boy to keep operating at the waterfront market, as reported by KIRO 7 News.
What's Next for the Georgetown Space
Georgetown itself is one of Seattle's oldest neighborhoods, known for its brick industrial architecture, craft breweries, and longstanding independent food spots, giving the new location a built-in dining culture to plug into. WhatNow Seattle reported it reached out to Taco Street for additional information on the Georgetown opening but has not yet received further comment, and no opening date has been set.
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