Nadia Holguin and Armando Hernandez’s restaurant empire began with Tacos Chiwas.
Jacob Tyler Dunn
The first time Guy Fieri pulled up to Tacos Chiwas, co-owner Armando Hernandez didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t even the first Food Network show whose producers had approached Hernandez and his wife Nadia Holguin for a segment. In fact, they were on a video call with another Food Network crew when Fieri’s team reached out.
Their first appearance on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” aired in 2018. Tacos Chiwas, the couple’s ode to their shared Chihuahuan heritage, was less than a year old and operating out of an old Dairy Queen on McDowell Road when the crew came to film. The day after that episode aired “was fucking bananas,” Hernandez recalls.
“We didn’t really even understand what that show was really about. I didn’t grow up with cable at the house,” he says. “It legitimately doubled our business the next day.”
Now, the Mayor of Flavortown has returned to catch up with Hernandez and Holguin as part of his show, “Triple D Nation.” On the spinoff series, the celebrity chef revisits restaurants to check in on them, typically years later. The episode, titled “Mex-Italian and Meatless,” will air at 10 p.m. Friday on Food Network.
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The episode description highlights Tacos Chiwas’ “lights-out lengua and beefed-up gorditas,” and will follow up with what’s happened to the owners since Fieri’s visit. (Tacos Chiwas was also featured in a pandemic episode, “Takeout: Comin’ From All Over the Map,” which aired in 2021).
A lot has changed for the taqueria owners. They moved their original Phoenix taqueria to a larger, more modern space on Indian School Road just west of 12th Street, opened a location in downtown Mesa and one at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The couple also branched out from their Tacos Chiwas brand to open other restaurants, including the upscale Mexican eatery Cocina Chiwas in Tempe and its neighboring Aruma Cafe. They have also partnered with chefs on other projects, including Rene Andrade’s acclaimed Phoenix restaurant, Bacanora, and Roberto Centeno on the excellent Mesa eateries, Main Burgers and Espiritu.
The “Triple D Nation” episode was taped about a year and a half ago, Hernandez says, so at this point, he doesn’t quite remember all they discussed. The sentiment for the owners is one of gratitude for the show and the notoriety it brought.
“It’s a good experience just to have a conversation and, obviously, from our end, thank them and the show,” Hernandez says. “It was one of those pivotal things that happened in our life that really helped us just thrive.”
Armando Hernandez and Nadia Holguin pose with their daughters at the grand opening of their new airport restaurant.
Tacos Chiwas is one of several Valley restaurants to get another visit from the celebrity chef and Food Network star for “Triple D Nation.” In a March episode, Fieri stopped into Paradise Valley Burger Co. Last year, he visited a slew of spots, including the casual Italian eatery Giuseppe’s On 28th, the Scottsdale barbecue joint The Thumb, Sal’s Gilbert Pizza, Tortas Chano in Anthem, Perk Eatery in Scottsdale, Curry Corner in Tempe, and Republica Empanada and Aloha Kitchen in Mesa.
As the Chiwas owners approach their taqueria’s 10-year anniversary, Hernandez says they’re not done.
“It’s been a continued evolution of us trying to bring as much love to Phoenix,” Hernandez says. “We’re not fully done yet, you know. We have a lot to express.”
Tacos Chiwas
1028 E. Indian School Road
127 W. Main St., Mesa