A Mexican restaurant was his dream. Now he has three Kansas City area locations
Juan Lozano worked in the restaurant industry for a decade, always hoping to have his own place.
Four years ago, he teamed up with his wife, Julia Rohrer, to open Taqueria La Nueva food truck, working up to 18 hour days to create and serve his Mexican cuisine, based on the authentic dishes he grew up on at a ranch in Mexico outside of Arandas, Jalisco. He concentrated on fresh ingredients and offerings such as al pastor (meat marinated and slow-roasted on a spit called a trompo).
They soon opened a brick-and-mortar location in Overland Park. Now they have a new midtown restaurant at 3906 Waddell Ave., just west of Southwest Trafficway. They spent six months remodeling the building, which was once the longtime home of Nichols Lunch.
“This has been his dream come true,” Rohrer said. “I think his recipes are awesome. Everything gets the same amount of care so the quality remains high.”
The menu includes tacos, quesadillas and mini quesadillas, tortas, burritos, beef soup and nachos. They also sell meat by the pound. Specials include their popular menudo (a traditional Mexican soup) on the weekends. Street tacos are $1.90 apiece on Taco Tuesday.
One of their most popular items are the specialty quesabirria tacos — cheesy shredded beef tacos with a side of birria consomé.
The couple opened Taqueria La Nueva at 12561 Antioch Road three years ago. Their food truck is parked at 6495 Quivira Road in Shawnee.
KC Kitchen & Pizzeria most recently operated in the Nichols Lunch building but closed in July.
This story was originally published April 26, 2023 at 10:15 AM.