10 hours ago
Mexican restaurant known for making one of Fresno's most famous tacos is moving
One of Fresno's most celebrated taco restaurants is about to get bigger.
El Premio Mayor, which began as a food truck and is a six-time Taco Truck Throwdown winner, is moving out of its original brick-and-mortar location on Avenue and relocating down the street at the old Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at First Street and McKinley.
Owner Bianca Loza confirmed the move and said she's hopeful that El Premio Mayor's new location could open sometime in September or October.
'It's definitely exciting and long overdue,' Loza told The Bee. 'As our business has grown, we've been looking for something bigger but didn't want to stray too far.
'Just staying close to our roots where we started. But in a bigger location.'
El Premio Mayor has been at its current location at 3110 E. McKinley Avenue since 2009.
Before that, El Premio Mayor had been strictly a food truck since 1996 and parked at various spots, including in front of the car wash next to the restaurant's current McKinley location.
The new El Premio Mayor location is roughly 1/4 mile from the restaurant's current location, which will remain open throughout the move before closing sometime by the end of the year.
El Premio Mayor also has a taqueria at 3141 N. Maroa Ave. (off Shields Avenue), which has been around since 2012.
El Premio Mayor's new McKinley spot will provide a larger kitchen space, which will allow the restaurant the opportunity to offer more options on the menu, including birria and asada fries currently offered at the Maroa location, Loza said.
The former Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant, which closed in April, is listed as 1,518-plus square feet. The location also has more parking, which has been an issue at the current McKinley resturant, Losa said. Customers sometimes park in the nearby neighborhood.
'This area is where we started, and we didn't want to leave that,' Loza said. 'But we wanted to offer a better experience for our employees and for our customers.
'When the old Popeye's building became available, it just made sense.'
El Premio Mayor's popularity grew when the restaurant decided to compete in the second Taco Truck Throwdown in 2012.
El Premio Mayor went on to be awarded six times for its tacos at the annual invent, including the People's Choice award three straight years.
El Premio Mayo tacos also ranked among the top 10 most famous restaurant dishes in Fresno, according to a Fresno Bee readers poll conducted earlier this year.
But it's not just award-winning food that El Premio Mayor has become known for.
The family-run business has participated in fundraisers, handed out warm burritos to people in need during the winter, volunteered to feed firefighters and donated lunches to frontline workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula.
For their efforts, El Premio Mayor in 2022 received the Small Business of the Year award for District 31 from Arambula.
The award, granted by the California legislature, celebrates small businesses across assembly districts 'because they are the backbone of the state's economy.'
