Alonso Castañeda is bringing the culture and foods from the Mexican streets to Utah.
He recently opened Taco Culture — a fun new restaurant focused on bringing street tacos to the people of American Fork.
“We want it to feel like if you walked into a taqueria in any one of the big cities in Mexico,” Castañeda said.
This isn’t the first time Castañeda has brought Mexican street food culture to Utah. A few years ago, he opened up Fruiteria, a dessert shop serving up delicious ice cream paletas and decadent soft serve treats. There are now two locations — one in Orem and one in Provo.
“I’m trying to create concepts that are inclusive for everyone. And it’s the stuff that I love to eat when I’m in Mexico,” Castañeda said.
A history in the restaurant industry
Castañeda has more than two decades of experience in the restaurant industry.
His first job was at a restaurant that grew to become Qdoba.
Later on, he worked for Savory Restaurant Fund, and helped launch multiple restaurants in Utah, such as R&R Barbecue, Swig and even helped bring chains like Via 313 to Utah.
Now he’s taking that experience to launch something of his own with Taco Culture.
“Tacos are having a moment,” Castañeda said.
Moving to Utah
Castañeda was born and raised in California until age 8, when he went to live in Mexico until he was 13. He came back to California until as an adult, he moved to Denver for a while. He then moved to Utah after his parents moved to the Beehive State to spend time with his dad, who had gotten sick.
“It was the best decision I ever made to spend the last years of my dad’s life with him,” Castañeda said. “To spend that time with my mother and spend that time with my siblings was so special. And then bringing my kids into the Utah culture was amazing. It was a benefit all-around, work-wise and family-wise.”
About Taco Culture
After spending years helping other restaurants launch and thrive in Utah, Castañeda decided it was time to chase his own restaurant dreams with Taco Culture.
When you walk into the shop, there’s a big window that opens to the kitchen, so you can see your tacos being cooked in real time.
“When you walk up to a taco cart, you can see them cooking your meat, cooking your tortillas,” Castañeda said. “And so I wanted to create that there with a big open window there, a big side window here, no secrets. You can just see everything that we’re cooking and we’re making it fresh every day.”
Taco Culture puts an “extra focus” on hospitality and making customers feel welcome from the second they walk into the restaurant.
“They can expect that the team is going to be attentive to making sure their food is perfect, tastes amazing,” Castañeda said. “And if there’s something wrong, we’re going to fix it.”
Castañeda said he’s really proud of how his team has embraced the concept and has loved seeing them work together.
“Seeing them, the team just gel and having very minimal turnover and everybody just supporting each other, helping each other, has been really cool,” Castañeda said.
What I ordered
Napkins and taco memes are readily available at Taco Culture.
“So we’re embracing the taco, not just the food of it, which is very important, but also the humor that we all love about tacos,” Castañeda said.
The atmosphere is light and fun, and after you order your tacos, there’s a decked out salsa bar where customers can dress the tacos themselves.
“So I decided, OK, we will not dress them so the customer can create their own experience, but let’s have an amazing salsa bar,” Castañeda said. “No matter what you get, you’re going to love it, whether it’s mild or hot.”
Here’s what I ordered:
At Taco Culture, I tried two of the tacos, and both were delicious.
Carne Asada: I’m a huge fan of carne asada tacos, so I come in with my own bias. It was grilled to perfection and was juicy and tender in the perfect mini pieces. I tried the medium spicy salsa at the salsa bar, and it was the perfect balance to the taco.
Al Pastor: The pork is rotated on a vertical rotisserie known as a trompo, making for a deep, savory flavor. Thin pieces are shaved off the slab of tender pork and placed on the taco with grilled pineapple. This one might have been my favorite, but it’s hard to choose. Why not just have both?
At Fruiteria, I tried the Angel Cup, and my life was changed. It’s described as “a heavenly scoop of your favorite ice cream choice, layered with fresh fruits of your choice, drizzled in sweet cream and topped with a halo of granola and shredded coconut.” The sweet cream really makes for a delicious and unique experience. The Angel Cup is decadent and rich and, like its description, quite heavenly.
Storefront information
Taco Culture
- Address: 456 E. State Rd., American Fork, UT 84003
- Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
- Price: $
Fruiteria
- Orem address: 1549 N. State St. #105, Orem, UT 84057
- Provo address: 239 W. Cougar Blvd., Provo, UT 84604
- Hours: Monday-Sunday, noon-10 p.m., Fridays open until 11 p.m.
- Price: $
