Coppell Chronicle Vol. 3, No. 33
Taqueria Missing Its Window of Opportunity • Per Oncor, Coppell’s Outages Could be Worse • Baseball League Says Grass is Greener on Turf • Valley Ranch Neighbors Oppose Revised Plan
Multiple subscribers have told me their favorite aspect of this newsletter is the Chronicle Crumbs. Those subscribers are in for a treat today, as this edition is especially laden with crumbs.
Taqueria Missing Its Window of Opportunity
I have experienced something very few others have: I purchased and consumed Taqueria La Ventana tacos in Coppell.
Last December, Twisted Root’s patio in Old Town hosted a Ventana pop-up shop on at least two Saturdays. I stopped by on one of those days, and the guy who handed me two tacos said the chain would be taking over the former Quincy’s Chicken Shack space on a permanent basis.
Shortly thereafter, the shed/bar on the Twisted Root patio got a makeover to match Ventana’s sugar-skull motif. The taqueria’s logo replaced the misspelled “CHICKN” sign on West Main Street. And a Spanish sentence (“Si no hacemos tacos para todos, no hacemos tacos para nadie”) was painted on the interior of Quincy’s former home. That translates to “If we don’t make tacos for everyone, we don’t make tacos for anyone.”
How appropriate. Ten months after I enjoyed my pop-up meal, Taqueria La Ventana still isn’t making tacos for anyone in Coppell.
A few of my subscribers requested — strike that, demanded — that I find out why the taqueria’s opening has been so delayed. I’m afraid I don’t have any answers, but not for a lack of trying.
I have submitted multiple emails via Taqueria La Ventana’s website and the website of its parent company, Local Favorite Restaurants. Nobody has responded. I’ve also dialed the only phone number I could find for Local Favorite’s headquarters. All of the voicemail boxes I navigated to were unidentified or full — or both.
I then tried a different tactic: I called the Taqueria La Ventana in Addison, the chain’s closest location to Coppell. Unfortunately, the woman who answered the phone and I had a bit of a language barrier.
Her: “Taqueria.”
Me: “Hi, I’m trying to get in touch with your corporate office. I wonder if you can give me a good phone number to reach them.”
Her, meekly, after a few seconds of silence: “Um, did you say ‘to go’?”
I’m not the only Coppell resident who’s been yelling into a taco-shaped void. Former City Council candidate Meghan Shoemaker has persistently posted questions about the delay on Taqueria La Ventana’s Facebook page, and all of her inquiries have been ignored.
“So does anyone from your PR team actually look at these?” Shoemaker posted in late August. “Everyone is genuinely curious about the opening of Coppell.”
City employees are among the genuinely curious. Director of Community Development Mindi Hurley told me her most recent conversation with anyone from Taqueria La Ventana happened about five weeks ago. “They said they don’t have a date yet, but it is still in the pipeline,” she said. I asked Hurley whether Taqueria La Ventana has received a certificate of occupancy, and she said no, because the chain hasn’t applied for one.
Here’s the good news: Even if Taqueria La Ventana never comes to Coppell, we can still enjoy delicious tacos at Anamia’s and Ole’s and Taqueria Dulce, which is inside Speedy K Mart. And if you’ve never been to Armando’s Tacos — which is on South Belt Line Road, in the shadow of DART’s new bridge — I recommend you give them a try. Not only does their food taste great, this supertaco on their business cards makes me smile every time I see it.
In other news from the restaurants beat …
• In July, the Coppell City Council approved zoning changes associated with a Popeyes and a Tim Hortons in Westgate at Coppell, the shopping center at Freeport Parkway and State Highway 121. I got worried last week when I noticed that the Westgate leasing brochure indicated the Tim Hortons space is available, but a source at the Shop Companies assured me their brochure is just out of date. “All still looks positive with Tim Hortons,” he said. Whew!
• In June, I reported that Venture Commercial Real Estate was negotiating a lease with a “chicken concept” for a 3,330-square-foot restaurant space in Point West (the shopping center on the northwest corner of Belt Line Road and Interstate 635). Those negotiations must have fallen apart, because the leasing brochure for Point West indicates that space is available again.
• In March, I reported that Five Guys plans to sell burgers and fries on the southwest corner of Belt Line and 635, according to a form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. That news is confirmed by the Five Guys logo appearing on the leasing brochure for “High Profile Space Available in Las Colinas.” (Yes, that is the shopping center’s official name.)
Per Oncor, Coppell’s Outages Could be Worse
This is small consolation when your lights, air-conditioning, and refrigerator won’t turn on, but Coppell’s statistics regarding power outages are supposedly better than average.