By Kate Kealey, Des Moines Register
With plans to expand to a new space that will nearly triple the size of Des Moines favorite Tacos La Familia, owner Ricardo Arana can’t help but think back to how the River Bend dining staple almost didn’t make it past its grand opening in 2016.
A missed city inspection forced Arana to temporarily close the restaurant’s doors just a month it started operating, Arana said. Without any revenue for three months, the family was thinking “we were going to have to close and not even get a chance,” he told the Des Moines Register.
If friends hadn’t helped Arana cover expenses and complete the inspection process, Tacos La Familia “would not be here,” he said.
Nearly a decade later, the restaurant, whose colorful walls are lined with laudatory newspaper articles and awards, is ready to grow.
Pending approval from the Des Moines City Council, it will move from its 1610 Sixth Ave. location across the street to anchor a mixed-use development currently under construction, said Kuuku Saah, its developer and a partner with Townhall Associates, the property’s owner.
The Townhall project includes a new, three-story building with 24 affordable apartments and the historic restoration of the former North Des Moines Town Hall next door, which is slated to have five apartments with a possible cafe on the ground floor.
Originally, the ground floor of the new building was slated to serve as a food hall with three kitchen spaces available for tenants. Instead, Tacos La Familia will occupy what will be a two-kitchen space.
Because the project has shifted from the initial plan, Townhall Associates must receive council approval to amend its urban development agreement with the city.
Saah sees it as perfectly in keeping with the project’s intent.
“We had this incredible opportunity with this tenant who has an established business here, and they’re trying to expand,” Saah said. “It’s part of what we’re trying to do: partner with businesses on the corridor, partner with businesses in Des Moines and provide space for them to grow.”
He said the project shifted when Arana mentioned to him his need for a bigger space for Tacos La Familia. Arana said he had been trying without luck to find a suitable space around the River Bend area for five years.
“I told my parents we either stay in the little spot or we expand in this area,” he said. “The community here is very supportive.”
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Arana said his parents sacrificed to open the restaurant, with its menu of tacos with fillings ranging from beef to tripe and heart and less common fare such as mulitas and huaraches, and grow it to the point of expansion. He said his stepfather, Jose Luis Laja, the mastermind behind the menu, worked multiple jobs alongside him to save up the necessary funds for the startup.
Since the restaurant opened, it’s been a family effort to build Tacos La Familia’s reputation, Arana said.
“We literally lived here more than at our own house,” he said of the compact, 1,200-square-foot restaurant space.
With the second kitchen planned at the new property, Tacos La Familia will have a dedicated area for catering preparation ― an ambition long thwarted, despite requests, because the current kitchen is too small, he said. It also will allow Laja to expand Tacos La Familia’s menu, he said.
Moving will be nerve-wracking, but requests from customers for a larger space are frequent, he said. It can only hold roughly 30 people, limiting dine-in options.
“This place is very small and gets filled up really fast,” Arana said, adding that the new, 3,500-square-foot space will comfortably fit parties of eight or more, with room for as many as 90 people.
Tacos La Familia plans to have a full bar at the new location along with a stage to host musicians and other entertainers, he said, adding that he hopes to make the restaurant more of a sit-down dining destination. If all goes as planned, he hopes to have Tacos La Familia relocated by October.
“Being in this neighborhood and staying in the neighborhood, I know we can succeed,” he said.
Saah said the idea behind the food hall was to create a space for local businesses to grow in the Sixth Avenue corridor, and pivoting the plan to house Tacos La Familia still fulfills that mission.
In addition, another 900 square feet of the building’s ground floor will serve as a community services facility operated by the 6th Avenue Corridor, Saah said. The nonprofit promotes business development in the diverse neighborhood.
“It’s a different format,” Saah said of the revised plan. “A different model, but still a model of growth.”
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