{"id":1007663,"date":"2026-08-18T01:42:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T01:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1007663\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T01:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T01:42:23","slug":"guy-fieris-favorite-taqueria-la-texanita-closes-brick-and-mortar-in-santa-rosa-as-su-casa-2-opens-the-press-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1007663\/","title":{"rendered":"Guy Fieri\u2019s favorite taqueria La Texanita closes brick-and-mortar in Santa Rosa as Su Casa #2 opens \u2013 The Press Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 21 years, Santa Rosa\u2019s La Texanita \u2014 a restaurant Chef Guy Fieri once named a hometown favorite<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 closed its brick-and-mortar location in July due to financial pressures.<\/p>\n

The 1667 Sebastopol Road location is now home to Su Casa #2,<\/a> a Mexican restaurant that has operated its flagship Rincon Valley location for over 20 years. Meanwhile, La Texanita is returning to its roots by opening a food truck down the road.<\/p>\n

For Ramon Sandoval, co-owner of Su Casa #2, expanding into the Roseland neighborhood felt like a natural move, even though he recognizes the tight competition among Mexican restaurants on the west side compared to the east side of town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already well known in Rincon Valley,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always wanted to come to this side and see how it goes\u2026 I enjoy being part of the Latino community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandoval, a Michoacan native, said the menu will closely mirror the original Su Casa, popular for its American and Mexican breakfast offerings, while adding molcajetes and seafood dishes.<\/p>\n

Alma Mendez, owner of La Texanita, said she is content transitioning the restaurant back into a food truck at 1410 Sebastopol Road. That Roseland spot is where her taqueria first became a local staple for its handmade tortillas, before she moved into the restaurant location whose lease was transferred to Sandoval in early July.<\/p>\n

La Texanita\u2019s popularity exploded in 2009 when Fieri featured the taqueria on Food Network\u2019s Diners,<\/a> Drive-Ins and Dives, highlighting their pozole and handmade carne asada tacos. Mendez\u2019s restaurant was featured again in 2019, and later in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic for a remote \u201cTakeout\u201d segment.<\/p>\n

\u201cLa Texanita has a lot of history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mendez, a Jalisco native, feels hopeful, just as when she started in 2001. Three years ago, she purchased the lot where her business originally began. Having both a lease and a mortgage made it impossible to stay profitable in the current economy, she noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I won\u2019t have to pay a rent increase year after year,\u201d she said. \u201cI am happy for this new beginning, even though I have to serve on a patio instead of an indoor dining area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandoval and Su Casa\u2019s co-owner, Vicente Campos, opened their second location on July 27 in the Roseland space previously occupied by Mendez. A sign bearing the new restaurant\u2019s name now stands where La Texanita\u2019s lettering once was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked at Su Casa in Rincon Valley for 17 years before buying it six years ago,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in this business a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendez will host the soft opening for the next chapter of La Texanita as a food truck on Tuesday, Aug. 18. The food truck will be open from 9 a.m. to midnight on weekdays and Sunday, and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, she envisions turning her property into a community gathering space where families can relax and enjoy as other food trucks join the lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do so many things here,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m taking it step by step.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After 21 years, Santa Rosa\u2019s La Texanita \u2014 a restaurant Chef Guy Fieri once named a hometown favorite\u00a0\u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1007664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337,403376,403377,403378,403379,120891,1585,120892,27951,120893,15185],"class_list":["post-1007663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-nbbj-business-closures","tag-nbbj-daily-briefing","tag-nbbj-diversity","tag-nbbj-hospitality","tag-nbbj-sonoma-county","tag-north-bay","tag-north-bay-business-journal","tag-northern-california","tag-santa-rosa","tag-sonoma-county"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117113975248568722","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1007663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1007664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1007663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1007663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1007663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}