A former Chipotle supervisor who once trained new crews across the Twin Cities is opening his fifth Que Taco restaurant in St. Paul on November 14, filling a former Starbucks at 300 Snelling Avenue with trompo-roasted meats, handmade corn tortillas and a goal of reaching ten locations in the coming years. Margarito Martinez Torres built the business from a single Savage storefront in 2018 without outside investment, and he says he's now halfway to that ten-location target.
Martinez Torres came to the United States in 1993 and moved to Minneapolis in 1997, according to the Star Tribune. He went on to work a decade for Chipotle in Minneapolis, including as a supervisor at the chain's Stadium Village location — the same store that became Chipotle's first Minnesota restaurant when it opened near the University of Minnesota campus in mid-March 1999, according to Axios Twin Cities. During his time there, Martinez Torres also led kitchen trainings at new Chipotle locations as the chain expanded, per the same Star Tribune account.
Before Chipotle, he worked for Don Pablo's and Cantina #1 at Mall of America, the latter of which closed in 2018 — the same year he opened his first Que Taco in Savage. He learned the menu's salsas and marinades from his mother, and the Star Tribune reports he wanted to showcase his food, recipes and culture through the business.
A Family Business Built Suburb By Suburb
Que Taco has expanded mainly in the suburbs, with locations in Savage, Fridley, New Hope and Burnsville, the Star Tribune's reporting notes. The company's own website describes itself as a family-owned business with locations in Eagan, Savage and New Hope, Minnesota, and it invites franchise inquiries by email at [email protected].
Martinez Torres' brother owns a second Que Taco location in New Hope, which the Star Tribune identifies as Martinez Torres' busiest site overall. That New Hope location closed for several days during Operation Metro Surge, when employees could not get to work, per the same account. Martinez Torres has a wife and three daughters involved in the business, and the report describes him growing the chain without outside investment.
Inside The New St. Paul Location
The St. Paul restaurant occupies a former Starbucks space after a friend connected Martinez Torres with the building's owner, the Star Tribune reports. The new shop has capacity for 60 people and will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a street-facing pickup window serving customers until 1 a.m. on weekends.
The opening was delayed from a planned August launch by construction and permitting delays, the newspaper's account states. Martinez Torres said neighbors have stopped by and called asking when the restaurant would open, according to the same reporting.
Trompo Meats And A 48-Hour Marinade
The St. Paul menu adds trompo-roasted meats including picanha and sirloin to the Que Taco lineup, alongside the chain's street tacos served on handmade-to-order corn tortillas, quesadillas and burritos. Que Taco uses a 48-hour barbacoa marinade across its locations, per the Star Tribune's reporting.
Martinez Torres is considering another location for 2027 and plans to expand Que Taco to ten locations in the coming years, the paper reports. A Threads post from the Star Tribune's account states that he is opening his fifth Que Taco location this week with plans for more, echoing the broader expansion goal described in the newspaper's own reporting.
The Twin Cities' role as a proving ground for national chains is well documented — Axios Twin Cities reports the region was one of six markets where Chipotle expanded beyond its hometown of Denver and its first expansion city, Kansas City, with the company's director of development for its West region calling it one of the best test markets and saying it gave Chipotle more confidence to expand nationwide. It's the same regional food landscape where Martinez Torres cut his teeth before building a Mexican concept of his own.
