After four years of crisscrossing Dallas-Fort Worth as a popular food truck, Avila Taco has opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Keller, at 1540 Keller Pkwy. #107 — marking a new destination for fans of birria, the rich, slow-braised Mexican stew that is their signature dish.

Avila Taco was founded in 2021 by husband-and-wife Jorge and Brigitte Da Rocha, along with Brigitte’s parents, Jose and Maribel Antonio. They started out at a gas station in Dallas, then worked their way up to earn recurring spots at Truck Yard locations in Dallas, The Colony, and Fort Worth.

Demand eventually outpaced what they could handle within the food truck.

“Every year the business grew exponentially, but last year we realized we had reached our maximum capacity,” Da Rocha says. “That’s when we knew it was time for a new chapter: a brick-and-mortar restaurant.”

Birria anchors the menu, available in both beef and chicken, and served with consommé. They've pushed the dish beyond the traditional taco by offering innovative twists such as birria egg rolls, birria grilled cheese, and birria ramen.

They also do classic carne asada and al pastor tacos, street corn, alongside creative items such as Dubai chocolate churros topped with kadayif.

Da Rocha says the menu is intentionally fluid.

“We’re always looking for ways to stay current, create new things, and push the limits of our menu,” he says. “We listen closely to our guests. Their feedback inspires a lot of what we create.”

Da Rocha’s culinary roots trace back to Venezuela, where he spent years working with his father, a veteran of the food industry who still runs a restaurant in eastern Venezuela. Running a food truck has shaped how the Avila Taco team operates the restaurant today, especially when it comes to efficiency.

“On a food truck you have to be fast because people are standing outside waiting for their food,” Da Rocha says. “That taught us that execution and speed are non-negotiable. If we can’t make an item quickly without compromising flavor or quality, then we simply don’t put it on the menu.”

That philosophy translates into a fast-casual, counter-service experience designed for consistency without shortcuts.

The restaurant is located in a former LA Burger, which closed in September. Though the space needed work, Da Rocha says the decision to open in Keller came easily.

“We toured multiple restaurants for sale, and this one just felt right,” he says. “As soon as we walked in, we knew it was the one. We could envision exactly what we wanted to create here.”

In the years ahead, Da Rocha hopes to grow Avila Taco into a multi-location concept built on craftsmanship.

“We want to offer the highest-quality food possible in a fast-casual setup,” he says. “We don’t cut corners. We make our own cheese sauce, process our meats in-house, use top sirloin for our carne asada, clean our birria carefully so there are no fatty pieces, make our egg rolls in-house, and prepare blue corn sopes from scratch. And we know we can always keep improving.”