{"id":44247,"date":"2026-04-07T23:36:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44247"},"modified":"2026-04-07T23:36:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:36:05","slug":"villas-tacos-expands-to-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=44247","title":{"rendered":"Villa&#8217;s Tacos expands to Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A cult-favorite Los Angeles taco shop that rocketed to national fame thanks to Bad Bunny will open in Las Vegas \u2014\u00a0but some SoCal fans aren\u2019t celebrating. <\/p>\n<p>Highland Park hotspot Villa\u2019s Tacos, the Michelin-recognized taqueria that <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/09\/us-news\/bad-bunny-puts-worldwide-spotlight-on-villas-taco-stand-and-owner-victor-villa\/\">famously appeared in the pop superstar\u2019s 2026 Super Bowl halftime show<\/a>, announced it was heading to Sin City on Monday \u2014 opening its first location outside California at the Durango Casino &amp; Resort.<\/p>\n<p>The casual Mexican spot is set to open this summer at the property\u2019s \u201cEat Your Heart Out\u201d food hall.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Highland Park hotspot Villa\u2019s Tacos announced it was heading to Sin City. <span class=\"credit\">Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The expansion marks a major milestone for chef-owner Victor Villa, whose operation famously began in his grandmother\u2019s front yard \u2014\u00a0before becoming one of LA\u2019s buzziest taco destinations.<\/p>\n<p>While Villa is ready to double down on Vegas, some fans back home worry the brand is losing its soul in a rush for expansion.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cVillas is growing too fast and serves cold tacos,\u201d one disgruntled diner complained on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/FoodLosAngeles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reddit<\/a> forum dedicated to all things food in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A cult-favorite LA taco shop that rocketed to national fame thanks to Bad Bunny will open in Las Vegas \u2014\u00a0but some SoCal fans aren\u2019t celebrating. <span class=\"credit\">Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The taqueria, famous for blue corn tortillas and signature crispy Monterrey Jack cheese skirts, has become an LA icon. <\/p>\n<p>After sharing the stage with Benito during his Big Game performance, Villas Tacos solidified its star status \u2014 becoming an \u201cit\u201d spot for LA style street food.<\/p>\n<p>However, the rapid scale up from humble beginnings to a multi-location mini empire spanning two states has some locals asking for a pause. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The casual Mexican spot is set to open this summer at the property\u2019s \u201cEat Your Heart Out\u201d food hall. <span class=\"credit\">Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIf they\u2019re going to make it long term they need to invest in operations, not more expansion,\u201d a Redditor wrote. \u201cAll their spots can improve how they\u2019re run.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others claim the quality is already taking a hit as the lines get longer. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir meats are not good and they are not run well,\u201d another critic chimed in. \u201cThey take 45 min to get through a line that angels could get through in 15 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The expansion marks a major milestone for chef-owner Victor Villa, whose operation famously began in his grandmother\u2019s front yard \u2014\u00a0before becoming one of LA\u2019s buzziest taco destinations. <span class=\"credit\">Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While many applaud Chef Villa\u2019s savviness and hustle, others find the rapid-fire expansion as \u201cobviously financially motivated\u201d and fear it is \u201cill-fated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the hometown heat, Durango Casino &amp; Resort execs are betting big on the brand. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir distinctive flavors, quality ingredients and strong connection to their community make them a natural fit for the property and a compelling new offering for our guests,\u201d said David Horn, Vice President and General Manager of Durango, as part of the announcement.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The taqueria, famous for blue corn tortillas and signature crispy Monterrey Jack cheese skirts, has become an LA icon. <span class=\"credit\">Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Villa\u2019s isn\u2019t the first SoCal taqueria favorite to try their luck in the Vegas market \u2014\u00a0Tacos 1986, started by taquero Joy Alvarez-Tostado in 2018 as a street food stall, recently opened at The Resort at Summerlin. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Tacos El Gordo, a San Diego-area staple that originated in Tijuana in the 1970s, has been a late night Las Vegas Strip essential for years. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/07\/us-news\/villas-tacos-expands-to-las-vegas\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A cult-favorite Los Angeles taco shop that rocketed to national fame thanks to Bad Bunny will open in Las Vegas \u2014\u00a0but some SoCal fans aren\u2019t celebrating.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}