Moderno Tacos & Tex Mex will serve its last plate of queso and tacos al carbon after service on Saturday, October 24, closing the books on a 12-year run in West Houston's Westchase District. But the restaurant's breakfast taco business, long a morning fixture for energy corridor commuters, isn't disappearing — it's just moving a few doors down to owner John Moore's Italian restaurant, Palazzo's Westchase.
A Lease Reaches Its Natural End
According to CultureMap Houston, Moore chose to let Moderno's lease expire so he could focus his attention on Palazzo's, which operates two locations — one in Briargrove at 2620 Briar Ridge and one in Westchase at 10455 Briar Forest Drive, the same shopping center where Moderno has long operated. Moore said streamlining the business made sense now that Moderno's lease had reached its natural conclusion, and he plans to direct all of his energy toward Palazzo's strongest restaurant operations.
Moderno opened in the summer of 2014 as an homage to El Restaurante Moderno, a 91-year-old cantina in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, that closed in 2010 and was famously the birthplace of the nacho, invented there by Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, according to Newswire. Moore named the Houston restaurant after the border cantina he had visited in his youth. The Briar Forest Drive dining room, designed by architect Issac Preminger and designer Melanie Bell, featured repurposed wood walls, Mexican encaustic tiles, wine-bottle room dividers, and a trophy elk named Oscar — details meant to replicate the ambiance of a high-end border cantina.
Breakfast Tacos Move Next Door
Starting Monday, October 26, Palazzo's Westchase will begin offering Moderno's breakfast tacos, serving them Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pickup will happen at a dedicated window by the restaurant's side door, mirroring the quick-grab setup commuters have relied on for years. Moore said Palazzo's will provide the same breakfast experience, recipes, team, tacos, and homemade salsas that made Moderno's morning program a hit, and Palazzo's plans to retain many of Moderno's existing staff to serve its loyal morning customers.
Moderno became a popular breakfast taco destination across the energy corridor and Westchase District, a 4.2-square-mile commercial hub housing over 1,500 businesses and more than 60,000 daytime employees, according to Bisnow. The restaurant served commuters in the area. Moore is preserving the breakfast taco operation even as he closes Moderno's full dining room.
Other Recent Closures
Bistro Le Cep, a 25-year-old French eatery, closed without warning on Westheimer Road earlier this year.
Other Houston breakfast taco institutions have faced similar disruptions this year. Sunrise Taquitos was forced to exit its Memorial Drive storefront after nearly 20 years due to property renovations, per WhatNow, illustrating how lease end-dates and landlord redevelopments can upend even the most established morning food vendors across the metro.
Moore expressed gratitude to the community for Moderno's 12-year run and said the company looks forward to welcoming customers at both Palazzo's locations going forward. Whether the full Moderno space will be repurposed or subleased remains an open question for now.
